News

Le Vivier, Montreal’s hub for new music, unveils its 18th season. True to its mission of showcasing new horizons in contemporary music, Le Vivier invites audiences to experience unexpected musical encounters led by artists from Montreal and beyond.

Musical Garden

The season opens with Musical Garden, a series of free concerts presented by collectif9 in the garden of Espace sonore Sainte-Hilda. Designed as an accessible introduction to new music, this summer program brings classical and contemporary repertoire together in a convivial setting. Featuring Steve Cowan (guitar), Andrea Stewart (cello), Béatrice Roy (percussion), Gwénaëlle Ratouit (clarinet), and Chloé Chabanole (violin).

Contemporary vocal creations

Vocal creation takes centre stage this season. With Oper'Actuel, Chants Libres brings together artists from diverse backgrounds, including Sarah Albu, Paramirabo, Stephen Mulligan, Opera 5, Tyson Houseman, and Kripa Nageshwar. These cultural crossings continue with Areuh!, a vocal ensemble work by André Pappathomas that explores the musicality of several languages. The season also welcomes MARS, Tim Brady and Alexis Diamond’s new chamber opera, an ambitious work exploring space exploration, the colonization of Mars, and climate upheaval.

A focus on emerging artists

Le Vivier’s Emerging Artists Hub, supported by the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, continues its mission of supporting and presenting emerging artists in contemporary music.
In Voix croisées, Rosane Lajoie explores the delicate art of melody through two song cycles for voice and piano. The new queer ensemble Tonitruances makes its debut with Trigger Warning!, a first concert devoted to musical theatre, bringing together several prominent figures from Montreal’s emerging arts scene, including Gabo Champagne, Thomas Gauthier-Lang, Émilie Fortin, and An Laurence. With Il Buio, Emmanuel Jacob Lacopo brings together chamber music, post-rock, ambient music, and electronics. The saxophone quartet Treffpunkt explores the intersection of composition, improvisation, and imagination in its eponymous work, inspired by the archaeology of the soundscape.

Musical experiments

The touring event Québec musiques parallèles brings together Quatuor Bozzini, duo Plant, Geneviève Ackermann, Super scintillant, Érick d’Orion, Patrick Giguère, Jean Derome, Hugo Blouin, and several leading figures in exploratory music. Le Vivier also welcomes Squid in Chains, a Vancouver trio combining improvisation, electronics, and acoustic instruments, as well as Suzanne Guité, a project by Mathilde Côté that blends musical theatre and biographical storytelling. Another hybrid offering, Conte de fée en musique, conceived by Ji Eun Moon, draws on a Quebec folk tale for a playful encounter between music, storytelling, and theatre. Known for its free-form improvisations, the ensemble Supermusique reveals different facets of improvised music—extreme, minimalist, noise-based, microtonal, and electronic—during the Jeudis sonores series.

International encounters

Ensemble Paramirabo continues its international exchanges by welcoming Berlin-based ensemble Zafraan for a meeting between two groups recognized for their commitment to contemporary creation. French artist Albane Tamagna presents Les gens qui partent, a musical and documentary performance combining flute, electronics, and personal testimonies around questions of displacement and identity. Austrian violinist Judith Fliedl, known for her highly diverse repertoire, offers a decidedly exploratory approach with the program Ultraviolin. Percussion ensemble Sixtrum presents a panorama of contemporary Dutch creation. Finally, saxophone quartet Quasar presents Ondes-passerelles, a program of intercultural dialogues bringing contemporary Western musical traditions into conversation with musical practices from cultures around the world.

Listening for the unexpected

For nearly 20 years, Le Vivier has been dedicated to new music. A nonprofit organization bringing together more than 60 members, Le Vivier is committed to presenting new music and supporting emerging artists through its programming, Emerging Artists Hub, cultural outreach activities, and youth program.