Twelve shows for Christmas | The Press

Shows for all tastes and all ages to get you in the holiday spirit.

The choir of There are people at mass

The team of all-star singers of There are people at masscomposed among others of Kim Richardson, Coral Egan and Frank Julian, has just released a first Christmas album, Just after November, consisting of original pieces composed by musical director Alex McMahon. The 10 performers of the show hosted by Christian Bégin, who are the source of the songs, will hit the road throughout the month of December. They and they will carry their powerful voices and their energy everywhere on the stages of Quebec, with a passage at the Outremont Theater, in Montreal, on December 15th.

Damien Robitaille

Soon it will be Christmas is the title of the album that Damien Robitaille released for the Holidays in 2019. The singer-songwriter brings his charming and benevolent universe to the stage in a show directed by Laurent Paquin. He will sing his original songs as well as Christmas classics, but the one-man band, who will be surrounded by several musicians and choristers for the occasion, will take the opportunity to perform some of the famous songs of the day that he broadcasts on the internet since the start of the pandemic.

Christmas a tradition in song

In barely five years, the show Christmas a tradition in song has established itself as a must-have for the holiday season. This year, the participating artists are Johanne Blouin, Joe Bocan, Luce Dufault, Martine St-Clair, Shirley Théroux, the trad group Suroît as well as the French opera singer Vincent Niclo. The staging of this show, where everything is done to make you feel good, is provided by Joël Legendre, and the musical direction by Jacques Roy.

The set ofLive from the universe

The talented singers and musicians of the show Live from the universe launched a very beautiful Christmas album last year entitled Christmas as before. The band of Jason McNally, Virginie Cummins and Jean-Benoit Lasanté brings its talent and joie de vivre to the stage this year with The Eve of the Holidays, a festive show in which you can hear original songs, folklore and traditional Christmas repertoire. But let’s bet that there will also be a small place for sweetness and melancholy, like the show of which they are the beating heart.

Christmas in the park

Another holiday classic is Noël dans le parc, which takes place in three Montreal parks, but whose center is Émilie-Gamelin Park, near the Berri-UQAM metro station. The festival, which is in its 29^e presentation, offers dozens of shows between December 3 and 31. Only on the first evening, we will be able to see Maryse Letarte, spokesperson for the event, then Salomé Leclerc and the group Lendemain deveille. But the program is rich and varied, offering a happy mix of emerging and established artists, addressing all types of audiences, from Ari Cuicui to Laurence Nerbonne.

Metropolitan Orchestra

The Orchester Métropolitain (OM), conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the two great voices of Mélissa Bédard and Kim Richardson, the jazz trio of Montreal pianist Taurey Butler with arrangements by Antoine Gratton, the OM choir: with more than 200 artists on stage and an eclectic repertoire ranging from Duke Ellington to great Quebec and American classicssthe show Festive tunes is one of the most ambitious of the season. Only this Saturday’s performance remains on the program, but the holiday concerts are not over for OM, who will perform the Mass in B minor Bach on December 18.

Pop-up show Christmas special

Comedian and host Chloée Deblois carries her Pop-up show — traveling comedy shows aimed at discovering the next generation — at Club Soda. For the occasion, the event will take on much more scope, with a good dozen comedians on the program, including Mathieu Pepper, Jo Cormier and Mégan Brouillard, a group of musicians and an evening that turns into a party of the holiday season. A unique event that promises to be crazy and festive, presented on December 15.

Guylaine Tanguay, Roch Voisine and the Orchester symphonique de Longueuil

Led by the very dynamic conductor and musical director of the OSL Alexandre Da Costa, the show Parapapam takes place from December 26 to 31 at the Maison symphonique. It features popular singers Roch Voisine and Guylaine Tanguay, soprano Giorgia Fumanti and baritone Vladimir Korneev, as well as 125 choristers, including Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, conducted by Frédéric Vogel. For a joyful evening installed in a magical setting, which will wander between classical and popular tunes. In addition, Alexandre Da Costa will also present with the OSL a Christmas concert featuring Marie Michèle Desrosiers. Two performances at the Saint-Antoine-de-Padoue co-cathedral in Vieux-Longueuil and one at the Saint-Viateur church in Outremont.

Christmas at the Opera

After enjoying great success last year, the Canadian ensemble Lyrico, made up of singers Marco Bocchicchio, Sam Champagne and Ian Sabourin, is back at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier with its show Christmas at the Opera. He will perform many Christmas tunes that lend themselves well to opera, but will add an Italian touch to the evening by singing great tunes including Brindisitaken from La Traviata, Funiculi Funicula and Core’ngrato. The singers will be accompanied by the FILMharmonic Choir and Orchestra, 85 musicians and singers led by Francis Choinière.

The chorists

It’s not a Christmas show, strictly speaking, but certainly a work that tickles our melancholic holiday spirit. After having enjoyed immense success in 2018 and 2019, this adaptation by Serge Denoncourt of the very beautiful film The chorists is back from December 28. Sweetness, tenderness, solidarity and music are on the menu of this piece which brings together Little Singers from Laval and Mount Royal to embody the young choristers, as well as François L’Écuyer in the role of the unforgettable professor Clément Mathieu and Sacha Bolduc in that of young Mongeau.

corteo at the Bell Center

Written and directed by Daniel Finzi Pasca, corteo was presented in Montreal for the first time under a marquee in 2005, and since then its success has not been denied. After playing at the Bell Center in 2018, it is back from December 21 as part of a North American arena tour. This poetic Cirque du Soleil show, which takes place in a carnival atmosphere, has enough magic and sweet madness to blend into the holiday spirit.

Christian Marc Gendron

Slightly under the radar of the mainstream media, singer and impersonator Christian Marc Gendron walks his shows Piano Man Experience and Piano Man 2 with great success over the past few years. With the singer Manon Séguin and surrounded by a group of eight musicians, he will integrate into his show, until December 28, special festive numbers that will recall the evenings of the holiday season, with songs from the album Christmas for threewhich he left with Manon Séguin two years ago.