FESTIVAL CONCERTS
Any questions? Please contact festivalpodium@chorales.ca
Thursday
MAY 16, 2024
Friday
MAY 17, 2024
Saturday
MAY 18, 2024
Sunday
MAY 19, 2024
CULTURAL LANDSCAPES
Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 5pm ET
Christ Church Cathedral
635 Saint-Catherine St W, Montreal, QC H3A 2B8
Choirs and singing groups from across Canada and beyond responded to the PODIUM 2024 National Committee’s call for proposals to perform at the Festival in Montreal. Nine exceptional groups were chosen by the Selection Committee to perform a variety of concert programs, highlighting different styles, composers, and music creators. Each concert is designed to expand our minds, open our hearts, and celebrate the joy of group singing.
The three groups featured in this concert are the Babεl (Elaine Choi) from Toronto (ON), Coroncoro Ensamble Vocal (Ana Paulina Alvarez) from Bogotá, Colombia, and Concreamus (Kai Leung) from Toronto (ON).
(click images to read bios)
Babεl
Toronto, ON
Coroncoro Ensamble Vocal
Bogotá, Colombia
Concreamus
Toronto, ON
HERITAGE
Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 8pm ET
Church of St. Andrew and St. Paul
3415 Redpath St, Montreal, QC H3G 2G2
Sponsored by:
The National Youth Choir of Canada (NYCC) is a project of Choral Canada and is one of Canada’s finest youth choirs. It is a one-of-a-kind professional development opportunity for some of Canada’s best emerging choral singers.
Truly national in scope, the prestigious choir is made up of singers between the ages of 19 and 26 who are auditioned from across the country every two years.
The 2024 Artistic Team includes Guest Conductor Roseline Blain, Apprentice Conductor Kitbielle Pasagui, and Collaborative Pianist Pierre McLean. The general theme of the program is “’Heritage”, in the sense of transmission and legacy. Heritage meaning "passing on" from one generation to another, from teacher to student, from one environment to another, from one culture to another.
(click image to read bio)
HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS
Friday, May 17, 2024 at 5pm ET
Christ Church Cathedral
635 Saint-Catherine St W, Montreal, QC H3A 2B8
Choirs and singing groups from across Canada and beyond responded to the PODIUM 2024 National Committee’s call for proposals to perform at the Festival in Montreal. Nine exceptional groups were chosen by the Selection Committee to perform a variety of concert programs, highlighting different styles, composers, and music creators. Each concert is designed to expand our minds, open our hearts, and celebrate the joy of group singing.
The three groups featured in this concert are Chroma Vocal Ensemble (Mitchell Pady) from Toronto (ON), Proximus 5 from Winnipeg (MB), and the Toronto Northern Lights (Andrew Carolan) from Toronto (ON).
(click images to read bios)
Chroma Vocal Ensemble
Toronto, ON
Proximus 5
Winnipeg, MB
Toronto Northern Lights
Toronto, ON
AHSKENNON’NIA: SONGS OF PEACE
Friday, May 17, 2024 at 8pm ET
Salle Pierre-Mercure
300 Maisonneuve Blvd E, Montréal, QC H2X 3X6
In May 2022, University of British Columbia’s Chancellor Steven Lewis Point of Skowkale First Nation said, "Reconciliation is the song we sing together." Ahskennon’nia, meaning “peace” in the Huron-Wendat language, lays the musical foundation of this Indigenous-led collaboration featuring Andrée Levesque Sioui (Wendat singer-songwriter), Deantha Edmunds (Inuk soprano), Alex Vollant (Innu baritone and pianist), Choeur des enfants de Montréal (Eun Jung Park), and musica intima vocal ensemble, with Sherryl Sewepagaham (Cree singer-composer) as the concert's curator and co-host.
Ahskennon’nia will feature Indigenous compositions by Sherryl and Andrew Balfour (Cree), including the world premiere of a new Indigenous choral work commissioned for PODIUM 2024. In the spirit of reconciliation through song, the concert will end with a powerful finale arrangement by Andrew composed and led by Andrée Levesque Sioui highlighting the concert's collective Indigenous artists, choirs, and collaborators.
(click images to read bios)
Andrée Levesque Sioui
Quebec City, QC
Deantha Edmunds
St. John’s, NL
Alex Vollant
Pessamit, QC
Chœur des enfants de Montréal
Montreal, QC
musica intima
Vancouver, BC
Sherryl Sewepagaham
Edmonton, AB
CHORAL AWAKENING
Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 5pm ET
Christ Church Cathedral
635 Saint-Catherine St W, Montreal, QC H3A 2B8
Choirs and singing groups from across Canada and beyond responded to the PODIUM 2024 National Committee’s call for proposals to perform at the Festival in Montreal. Nine exceptional groups were chosen by the Selection Committee to perform a variety of concert programs, highlighting different styles, composers, and music creators. Each concert is designed to expand our minds, open our hearts, and celebrate the joy of group singing.
The three groups featured in this concert are Chœur des Jeunes de Laval (Philippe Ostiguy) from Laval (QC), Chœur Adleisia (Megan Batty and Virginie Pacheco) from Montreal (QC), and the Holy Heart Chamber Choir (Robert Colbourne) from St. John’s (NL).
(click images to read bios)
Chœur des Jeunes de Laval
Laval, QC
Chœur Adleisia
Montreal, QC
Holy Heart Chamber Choir
St. John’s, NL
LIFT EVERY VOICE : FROM NEGRO SPIRITUALS TO HIP HOP
Saturday, May 18, 2024 at 8pm ET
Salle Pierre-Mercure
300 Maisonneuve Blvd E, Montréal, QC H2X 3X6
In December 2014, the UN General Assembly proclaimed the years 2015 to 2024 as the International Decade for People of African Descent. The main objective of this decade is to strengthen actions and measures that ensure the full enjoyment of economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights of people of African descent, and their full and equal participation in society. It also celebrates the contribution of people of African descent to culture, history, and society in general, especially in the rich and varied tradition of choral music.
PODIUM 2024 will mark the end of the decade with a concert featuring the Jireh Gospel Choir (Carol Bernard) and the Nathaniel Dett Chorale (Brainerd Blyden-Taylor). This concert highlights significant and diverse choral contributions of people of African descent, including Sydney Guillaume, Evelyn Simpson Cureton, and Christopher Ducasse, who will conduct his own compositions.
(click images to read bios)
Jireh Gospel Choir
Montreal, QC
Nathaniel Dett Chorale
Toronto, ON
CONNECTED VOICES
Sunday, May 19, 2024 at 3pm ET
Salle Pierre-Mercure
300 Maisonneuve Blvd E, Montréal, QC H2X 3X6
For the closing concert of its 2024 edition, the PODIUM 2024 Festival offers an exceptional intercultural dialogue curated and conducted by André Pappathomas featuring all Quebec-based artists, including: Latin American group Canticorum (Rodney Hinojosa), Rwandan group La chorale Singiza (Honoré Iradukunda), Romanian group La Muse (Ioana German), Haitian group Haïti chante et danse (Marie-Claire Léveillée), Les Voix de l’Iglonthe, Trio d’Astrupal, and a trio of musicians (violin, cello and vibraphone/percussion). This major creative project will highlight the expressive potential of each language, emphasizing the rhythmic character, textures and consonances of the works written for the occasion.
The Connected Voices project is a reflection on culture and language as sources for sharing our emotions and thoughts. Through improvisation and creative choral workshops before the concert, this collective work favors a context of exchange and reflection on harmonious cohabitation between individuals and communities.
(click images to read bios)
André Pappathomas
Montreal, QC
Canticorum
La chorale Singiza
La Muse
Haïti chante et danse
Les Voix de l’Iglonthe
Virginie Mongeau, soprano
Ghislaine Deschambeault, mezzo-soprano
John Giffen, baritone
Clayton Kennedy, bass
Trio d’Astrupal
Stéphanie Lépine, singer and violinist
Kate Bevan Baker, singer and violinist
Michel Bordeleau, singer and mandolinist
Instrumentalists:
Olivier Maranda
Catherine Le Saunier
Kate Bevan Baker