The Montreal International Musical Competition (CMIM) will be held on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in Bourgie Hall with a first event, until Tuesday: 35-minute recitals presented by 24 pianists. The event is newly placed under the two-headed administrative direction of Chantal Poulin and artistic direction of Shira Gilbert. The tandem did not fail to quickly demonstrate some clever initiatives.
Violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann, here in these pages, a week ago, remembered the words of his master Herman Krebbers when he played his first Concerto of Brahms at 17: “The dish is ready, but we are going to make it a little better; I’ll bring you the parsley and spices. »
With Chantal Poulin and Shira Gilbert, who took over after the 2023 edition from Christiane LeBlanc, who had headed the CMIM since 2012, the contribution of parsley and spices came quickly, with some ideas as simple as they were obvious.
Outside the walls
“For 18 months, we have carried out strategic reflection around the mission and ambitions of the competition. The new developments implemented are not novelties in the spirit of the times or influenced by fashions. We asked ourselves, for example, how to promote the CMIM’s roots in Montreal and its influence in Quebec,” summarizes Chantal Poulin at Duty.
One of the new features of the 2024 edition is so obvious that we wonder how it was not obvious. “For half of the competitors, who come from all over the world, the Quebec adventure will be over after playing 35 minutes. Also aware of the ecological impact, we asked ourselves: “What can we do for the competitors and the public?” », says Chantal Poulin. This gave the CMIM the initiative on the road, which will allow unqualified competitors to present to another audience, outside Montreal, part of the program that they had planned to play during the rest of the competition. “The competitors are winners, because they will be able to perform while meeting an audience in different conditions. Audiences from Hudson, Sorel or L’Île-des-Soeurs will see young, high-level international pianists. The broadcasters applaud and are happy, and the competition benefits by meeting, sometimes before the semi-final, an audience who may want to follow the rest of the competition. » Since the announcement of the idea of CMIM on the road, calls have multiplied to receive the singers for the 2025 edition.
If it is well managed, or if it finds a very active sponsor, this initiative could even have unexpected deployments in the future, reaching out to possible “disadvantaged music lovers” in many environments. For this year, the pianists will be at the Maison de la musique in Sorel-Tracy on May 8 and 9 at 6 p.m., in L’Île-des-Soeurs on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and in Hudson on Sunday, May 12 at 1:30 p.m. .
Dropper
Chantal Poulin, who has followed all editions of the CMIM in theaters since 2004, is one of those shadowy actors who did not see herself as a caliph in the place of the caliph. “When in the fall of 2019, Christiane LeBlanc asked me to join the team, I had been self-employed in classical music for several years. I like working on aspects of logistics and production. Then the pandemic arrived and we built a virtual competition with its positive and negative aspects, but which was seen as the musical event of the year. When I returned from the pandemic, Christiane LeBlanc asked me if I agreed to take over as general director with her, keeping the artistic aspects and philanthropic relations. So, from 2021, I was in charge of operations, preparing the competition in all its elements. This is how, in tandem, we managed the 2022 and 2023 editions.”
Even with this background, Chantal Poulin did not apply for succession: “It was not in my plans to take over. We thought someone would come from the outside, until the board of directors approached Shira Gilbert and me, who were taking over in the interim. As it was going well, we said yes. »
Having experienced so many editions in the room brought another idea, simple, but very innovative in the routine world of musical competitions. “We were looking for a way to get the public more involved. » While generally all the prizes are revealed at the end of the final, this year “we will announce the prizes which have already been completed”. The signal is clear: “The competitor who has just won the sonata prize may have one foot on the podium and it is worth listening to him. It’s a way of keeping the audience in suspense, so that they feel involved. Otherwise, what happens behind closed doors is long and mysterious. »
Chantal Poulin, who does not know if this initiative has precedents in other competitions, does not think that these trickle-down revelations will destabilize the candidates: “Last year, the one who won the interpretation of the sonata n He wasn’t our big winner; the person who won the best performance of the required Canadian work was not our grand prize winner either. So the person who wins the chamber music prize is not necessarily going to be the grand prize winner. On the other hand, the grand prize winner will necessarily have done well in chamber music. »
New profiles
Because on a musical level, the big news is the addition, for the semi-finalists (there will be 10, not 12) of a chamber music test. “We wanted to offer jury members other ways to evaluate our competitors by seeing the 10 semi-finalists interact in chamber music with the first chairs of the Orchester symphonique de Montréal (OSM). This moment will be revealing for observing the musicians, not only as virtuosos, alone on stage, but in interaction with other musicians. »
The latest innovation is the introduction of a “new generation jury”. It is not at all a question of setting up a parallel jury, but of providing an innovative educational experience to nine students from McGill, the University of Montreal and the Conservatoire, under the supervision of Janelle Fung, of the Conservatoire de Montréal. “The institutions applauded and understood the educational value for their students of sitting at the podium near the international jury, listening to their peers, under the supervision of a professor, and developing critical thinking. » The objective is in no way the judgment of the competitors, but “the development of young people’s critical sense”, notes Chantal Poulin, who notes that this jury will include a majority of foreign students. “At the end of the first round, the emerging jury will say to the public: “In our opinion, this young person is worth following.” »
This year, the CMIM registered 388 applications from 38 countries. This is enormous, knowing, for example, that the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels received 290 entries in violin. “Since 2022, we have adopted a more personalized approach. Before, we worked with institutions and teachers, now, with social networks, we can go directly to meet young people who stand out after school or in other competitions and we invite them personally. »
Chantal Poulin also notes a change in profile. “Before they were young up-and-comers; now we are talking about artists of the new generation. The young people are already ready to launch their careers the day after the competition. Young people who apply often have their agent, their website. These are not the same people who presented themselves ten years ago. Musicians who want to make a career have no choice but to professionalize their career at a younger age. This is a trend observed across the world. »
The final test will take place on May 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. with the OSM under the direction of conductor Xian Zhang. The jury, chaired by Zarin Mehta, is composed of Dmitri Alexeev, Lydia Artymiw, Louise Bessette, Jan Jiracek von Arnim, Robert Levin, Hélène Mercier, Ronan O’Hora and Minsoo Sohn.