On January 28, 2017, only a few days after the inauguration of President Donald J. Trump, our Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, issued this Tweet: “To those fleeing persecution, terror & war, Canadians will welcome you, regardless of your faith. Diversity is our strength #WelcomeToCanada”. This Tweet, coupled with lack of … Read More
Photo ©2012 Stephen Fogarty
About 120 violin students and classical music fans of all ages were privileged to attend a fascinating Master Class given by the Russian violinist Maxim Vengerov in Montréal on Friday, October 26. Mr. Vengerov was in town performing in and conducting two concerts by the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (OSM). The program notes mentioned that Mr. Vengerov now divides his time equally among playing the violin, conducting, and teaching. His skills in the first two are universally acclaimed, and it was apparent only a few minutes into the Master Class that his skills as a teacher are on an equally high level.
The Master Class featured four Montréal area up-and-coming, young violinists each of whom would begin playing a work for some five to eight minutes. Mr. Vengerov would then give a general overview of their efforts, followed by a review of particular passages to work on technique. He often illustrated the points by playing on his own ex-Kreutzer 1728 Stradivari, and toward the end even played a duet with one of the students, Baptiste Rodrigues. Read More
One of the factors in choosing to visit, study in or immigrate to another city is the vibrancy of its cultural life.
If you are interested in classical music, the city of Montreal is without a doubt one of its leading centres the world over.
The classical music scene is so vibrant in Montreal that on a typical Sunday afternoon during the autumn, for example, you may well have eight or ten or even more high-level concerts being performed around the city. It is our pleasure to share with you some of Montreal’s classical music treasures. Read More