For its 2023-2024 season, the Université de Montréal Faculty of Music is offering a program that will once again spotlight its student community and teachers, with several large-scale events in some of the city’s iconic venues and renowned international guests.
Among the highlights, the UdeM Orchestra will be playing Mahler’s "Resurrection Symphony" the Big Band will host clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen, singer Catina DeLuna and pianist Otmaro Ruiz; the opera studio will present Mozart’s Magic Flute; and we’ll plunge into fascinating creative worlds at 6 Ultrasounds evenings.
From digital music to opera by way of jazz, world music, baroque, classical and contemporary, audiences will get to discover the rich diversity so characteristic of the Faculty of Music. Rendezvous for every taste, either free of charge or at affordable prices!
![](/fileadmin/musique/images/Saison_musicale23-24/Anglais/L1_Eng_generique_saison_2023-24_1200x400px.jpg)
![](/fileadmin/musique/images/Saison_musicale22-23/Intercalaire_1200x100/L1_ENG_OUM_intercallaire_1200x100.jpg)
Buy
The Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal opens its season on a brilliant note with a concert that traverses three centuries of music. First the 21st century, with a premiere by Snežana Nešić, winner of the 2023 OUM Concerto Competition, then the 20th, with excerpts from Ravel’s ballet Daphnis et Chloé, in a choreography by Andrew Skeels with students from the École supérieure de ballet du Québec, the choir of the Orchester Métropolitain and the senior choir from the Music-Studies program at the Vincent-D’Indy Music School.
That work, in which the composer evokes the “Greece of his dreams,” was premiered by the renowned Ballets Russes, with Nijinsky in the role of Daphnis. The shimmering colors of the orchestra and the delicacy of the writing imbue this score with a tantalizingly sensual poetry. As for the 19th century, that will be illustrated by one of its most famous representatives, Felix Mendelssohn, who wrote a vibrant Concerto for Two Pianos in order to perform it with his sister, Fanny.
TICKET
Buy
For Mahler, to write a symphony was to build a world, and his “Resurrection” Symphony is no exception to the rule. Created in five movements, the monumental work calls on an imposing orchestral lineup, a chorus, solo voice and an organ. Mahler needed no less to express his vision of the world; whence the epic character of the work. The initial funeral march is answered by the majestic final movement built around the Resurrection chorale. Between those two extremes, an Andante described by the composer as a “melancholy dream,” a Scherzo with ironic accents, from which evocations of brass fanfares, laughter and cries emerge, and a more meditative fourth movement, respite of a sort before the gigantic final explosion. This emotional journey is what the OUM and its conductor, Jean-François Rivest, invite you to.
This concert will mark the retirement of Jean-François Rivest, full professor and artistic director of the OUM for 30 years.
TICKET
![](/fileadmin/musique/images/Saison_musicale22-23/Intercalaire_1200x100/L1_ENG_bigband_intercallaire_1200x100.jpg)
![](/fileadmin/musique/images/Saison_musicale23-24/Big_Band/L1_BIG_BAND_Releve_400x400px_2023-2024_TERMINE.png)
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
7:30 p.m.
Club Soda
Buy
A large-scale jazz concert showcasing the Université de Montréal Big Band and its new music director, Brazilian trumpeter João Lenhari, along with the new generation in jazz composition!
At this evening event you’ll discover original creations as well as arrangements by students in the class of Jean-Nicolas Trottier, as performed by the Big Band.
The Faculty of Music benefits from the support of the Sophie Desmarais fund for the Big Band of the University of Montreal.
Buy
The Université de Montréal Big Band welcomes clarinetist-saxophonist Anat Cohen. Regarded as one of the finest clarinetists in jazz, she shines with her expressive virtuosity, her charisma and her inspired playing. Nominated for a Grammy Award on a number of occasions, Anat Cohen was also inducted into the Jazz Wall of Fame of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) in 2009. Consider this your invitation to attend an exceptional event with a prodigious musician and the UdeM Big Band!
At this concert, the students winning the Dr. Stephen and Susan Fichman Jazz Awards will be announced.
The Faculty of Music benefits from the support of the Sophie Desmarais Fund for the Université de Montréal Big Band.
During her stay at the Faculty of Music, Anat Cohen will offer a public masterclass on Tuesday, March 26 at 4:30 p.m. at Salle Claude-Champagne.
TICKET
![](/fileadmin/musique/images/Saison_musicale22-23/Intercalaire_1200x100/L1_ENG_opera_workshop_intercallaire_1200x100.jpg)
Buy
Atelier d’opéra de l’UdeM
Richard Margison and Robin Wheeler, Atelier d’opéra direction
Performing for the very first time at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ Bourgie Hall, the UdeM Opera Studio presents an exciting musical journey through great opera arias. Since its official birth in 17th-century Italy, opera has exerted a continuous attraction on composers, many of whom have left us memorable works. Combining theater and music, the genre fascinates and deeply moves us. Let yourself be seduced by the remarkable voices of Faculty of Music students in classical singing, and enjoy stirring moments courtesy of excerpts from the most celebrated lyric scores accompanied on the piano.
On the program are works by Verdi, Mozart, Donizetti, Tchaikovsky, Offenbach, Bernstein, and Humperdinck.
TICKET
Buy
A prince charged with freeing a princess imprisoned by a false tyrant; a malevolent queen of seductive beauty; a good-hearted, bumbling bird catcher and a magic flute to overcome evil: neither a tale by Perrault nor a legend from the Brothers Grimm, but rather one of the most fascinating operas in the history of music, Mozart’s Magic Flute.
Blending enchantment, esotericism and humorous situations, the work was considered a wonder in Germany beginning with its premiere in 1791. And what is there to say about Mozart’s incredible music? The best thing would be to come discover it in the company of the UdeM Opera Studio and Orchestra, directed by Jean-François Rivest in a staging by Patrick R. Lacharité.
As to the opera’s fantastic character, that will allow students in composition and sound creation to give free rein to their imagination in creating original scenery designed on the basis of video mapping and lighting installations.
TICKET
![](/fileadmin/musique/images/Saison_musicale23-24/Anglais/EMC_Livart_termine.png)
Saturday, December 2, 2023
7:30 p.m.
Le Livart
Buy
The EMC and Digital Musics at Livart
An immersive dialogue between contemporary music and digital creation is what this one-of-a-kind evening has in store, presented in a sparkling and innovative artistic setting!
On the program, musicians from the Ensemble de musique contemporaine, arranged across the space, perform three instrumental works, while students in digital music will dress the premises in projections and digital musical works.
Following this astonishing concert, the evening will carry on in the company of a DJ, in a festive and frenzied atmosphere!
TICKET
Learn more
Contemporary music has always figured prominently at the Faculty of Music. Under the direction of conductor Jean-Michaël Lavoie, the Ensemble de musique contemporaine de l’Université de Montréal revisits ways of creation and artistic research, whether through prominent compositions of the 20th and 21st centuries or with works presented as world premieres. Offering a multifaceted repertoire, these striking concerts feature Faculty students and are presented free of charge.
On the program for this evening, which will be joined by musicians from the NEM, works by Georg Fridrich Haas, Bekah Simms and Unsuk Chin will invite you to explore the concept of melody.
Consult the calendar
Learn more
Experimental evenings for discovering the best of what happens in digital creation at the Faculty of Music!
Presented in December and April, the Ultrasounds series are dedicated to acousmatic and visual music, to digital art, to performances and to algorithms. Under a loudspeaker dome and in an immersive environment, you’ll be plunged into the fascinating worlds of students in the different composition and sound creation programs offered at the Faculty.
A true springboard, Ultrasounds evenings are ideal opportunities for enjoying surprises and for applauding original creations by the rising generation in multimedia.
Consult the calendar
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/5/2/csm_Logo_LAPRESSE_COUL_89a306b356.png)
The Faculty of Music thanks La Presse, media partner of Festival Vibrations and of the 2023-2024 season.