UK – Ireland – Nordic Countries UK – Ireland – Nordic Countries May – August 2016 MAY– AUG 2016 01 Bonjour, Focus On Music Welcome to another bumper edition of Québec Culture. We are very excited by the depth and breadth of talent and creativity that we will be welcoming across the cultural “The Edinburgh International Festival is delighted to welcome sectors this summer. One sector that particularly stands such an extraordinary range of Québec musical talent in our 2016 out is music, on account of both the number of acts visiting programme. From post-rock pioneers Godspeed You! Black Emperor our territory and the huge variety of musical genres that to internationally acclaimed maestro, Yannick Nézet-Séguin this year’s they will be presenting. Québec’s musical diversity will International Festival reflects the diversity and depth of talent coming be brought to you by, amongst others, special showcases out of Québec. We are always thrilled to present the work of artists from of pop/rock at Liverpool Sound City and Brighton’s Great Québec and look forward to continuing this valuable partnership for Escape. Other artists performing across the UK, Ireland and many years to come.” (Page 9) the Nordic countries include Inuit throat singers Beatrice Fergus Linehan, Festival Director & Chief Executive, Deer and Evie Mark, classical maestros Marc-André Photo © Stuart Armitt Edinburgh International Festival Hamelin, Louis Lortie and Yannick Nézet-Séguin, and world-renowned folk stalwarts La Bottine Souriante and Le Vent du Nord. Speaking of Le Vent du Nord, they launched their eighth CD, Têtu, with us at King’s Place in London in March of last year. The album has now been nominated for a Songlines Music Award with the winner to be announced in the June issue of the music magazine. “Since we started Sound City in 2008, Québec artists have continually been the highlights of our programme. Over the years we have In other news on the music front, following his residence at Acme’s Studio du Québec in showcased Tim Hecker, Deadbeat, Folly and the Hunter, Solids, Braids, London last year, composer Isaiah Ceccarelli had one of his pieces, Bow, performed by Le Couleur, Ira Lee and Beat Market. One thing that always astounds the London Contemporary Orchestra Soloists at the Roundhouse in London in April. us is the diversity, ingenuity and brilliance of the Québec artists, they always stand out. We’re really excited this year to be working with POP Montreal for the second year running on a showcase which will feature You will see a selection of Québec music festivals to look out for on pages 18 – 19. As FOXTROTT, L.A. Foster and Wake Island.” (Page 4) always, to discuss any cultural project involving Québec, please do not hesitate to get in touch with our cultural team. Photo © Craig McGee Rebecca Ayres, Chief Operating Officer, Liverpool Sound City Bonne lecture! Christos Sirros - Agent-General, Québec Government Office in London “The Førde festival has presented artists from Québec many times during the festival’s 27-year history, such as La Bottine Souriante, who visit for the second time this year, Le Vent du Nord, Trio Marchand/ Ornstein/Miron, Yves Lambert, Genticorum, and others. It has always been a great pleasure to cooperate with the musicians, and they have all QC-UK Cultural Cooperation Fund 2015-2016 been very well received by our audience. The music traditions of Québec are so rich and interesting, and it is amazing to see these wonderful The Québec Government and the British Council are pleased to announce the 2016 recipients of their QC-UK Cultural Cooperation Fund. Implemented to promote the creation artists doing so well in the international music market.” (Page 8) and dissemination of cultural works and products, the following international exchange Photo © D. Reiakvam Hilde Bjørkum, Director, Førde Traditional and World Music Festival, Norway programmes involve artists, directors and authors and encourage a cultural dialogue leading to a better mutual understanding between the two societies. Congratulations to: Groupe Le Vivier/Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival, Maison de la poésie de Montréal/Scottish Poetry Library, POP Montreal/Liverpool Sound City, Casteliers/ Puppet Animation Scotland and Fondation Metropolis Bleu/Edinburgh International Book “We have worked with artists from Québec for many years now, and we Festival. are pleased to welcome FOXTROTT, Milk & Bone, Jesse Mac Cormack and Essaie Pas to TGE 2016. We’re also excited to continue to work The next call for projects will be announced in mid-May. For more information please visit with M for Montreal as well as on a new partnership with POP Montreal www.britishcouncil.ca which sees them showcase L.A. Foster and Wake Island at the festival. We always look forward to seeing the talent coming from Québec, and it never fails to disappoint.” (Page 4 & 5) Le Vent du Nord. Photo © Jens Th Le Vent Idil Sukan: London Wonderground, Southbank, London, 15 June – 25 September Idil Sukan: London Wonderground, Cultural Contacts Kevin Moore, General Manager, The Great Escape Photo © 2013 Dan Dennison/Rex Features Assis Carreiro Marie Morin Muireann Leonard Jesse Peterkin Interim Director for Culture Cultural Attaché Project Manager Assistant [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Cirque Alfonse © , Whilst every effort has been made to verify the accuracy This brochure should not be reproduced in full or of the information in this brochure you are advised to in part without the consent of the Québec +44(0)20 7766 5930 www.quebec.org.uk www.facebook.com/QuebecUK www.twitter.com/Quebec_UK contact the host organisations for confirmation. Government Office. | | | BARBU Cover: MUSIC MUSIC MAY– AUG 2016 02 03 Quatuor Bozzini Le Vent du Nord 1 May 8 May – 26 August Caroli Församlingshem Various venues across Ireland and the UK Borås, Sweden (See listings pages 20 – 21 or visit www.leventdunord.com) Photo © Michael Slobodian Since 1999, Quatuor Bozzini has been an original voice in new, contemporary, experimental and Nominated for a Songlines Music Award 2016 classical music. Their vastly diverse repertoire has led to over 130 commissioned pieces, as well Following on from their knockout success as close to 200 other premiered works. Winners of numerous prestigious prizes, the group tours at a host of UK festivals last summer, extensively across the world. To ensure continual development in their art, the quartet’s annual award-winning Le Vent du Nord return musical laboratory, the Composer’s Kitchen, works to mentor and support new generations of to these shores, to once again delight composers. audiences with their mix of fiddle, guitar, This May in Borås they present the work of Zoltán Jeney in two concerts. accordion and hurdy-gurdy. Combining a great stage presence with an energetic, www.quatuorbozzini.ca dynamic flair, they have become one of the leading names in Québécois folk music throughout the world, capturing the energy and mirth of a Saturday night Tim Hecker & kitchen party, while infusing old Québec Kara-Lis Coverdale Photo © Stéphane Najman with a breath of fresh, cosmopolitan air. 5 May St John Sessions Series Louis Lortie St John at Hackney 20 May 28 May 22 August London, UK Wigmore Hall Bergen International BBC Chamber Proms London, UK Festival Royal Albert Hall After cementing his position as one Bergen, Norway London, UK of the best live performers that St John at Hackney Church has hosted (back in 2013), Montreal’s Tim Hecker Singled out by The Daily Telegraph’s five-star review, Louis returns with a live performance Lortie ‘made the walls shake’ with his performances of of inspiring new material, further Beethoven’s ‘Hammerklavier’ and Liszt’s B minor Sonata at solidifying his unique position as Wigmore Hall in 2015. a contemporary master of volume The acclaimed Québec pianist returns with another richly and texture. The sonic intensity of endowed programme, complete with the minor-keyed turbulence his live show has been paired with of Mozart’s K310, written in Paris in 1778, and Brahms’s an experimental light component monumental F minor Piano Sonata. Photo © Tracy Van Oosten Van Photo © Tracy programmed by Berlin’s MFO. On 28 May, he performs Grieg and Brahms at the Bergen Kara-Lis Coverdale, also known as K-LC, is a Montreal-based International Festival. He returns to England with a lunchtime composer, musician and producer. She is known equally for her recital at the BBC Chamber Proms on 22 August. piano, organ, and keyboard work as she is for her experimental electronic projects. Often her work integrates the two, blurring www.louislortie.com | www.wigmorehall.org.uk the lines between traditional composition and research-based Photo © Élias Photographies www.fib.no | www.bbc.co.uk/proms modernism. www.sunblind.net | www.soundcloud.com/klissay www.stjohnsessions.co.uk Kara-Lis Coverdale. Photo © Rafael Marines MUSIC 04 MAY– AUG 2016 05 Liverpool Sound City & UK Tour More from Québec at The Great Escape POP Montreal, Wake Island, Jesse Mac Cormack, L.A. Foster, FOxtrott Milk & Bone, Essaie Pas, M for Montreal 13 – 31 May 19 - 21 May Various venues across the UK Brighton, UK (See listings pages 20 – 21) (See listings pages 20 – 21) POP Montreal Jesse One of Québec’s premiere metropolitan cultural events, POP Montreal, is hosting its first ever MacCormack European tour, bringing two of Montreal’s finest rising acts, electronic duo Wake Island and For the last three R&B artist L.A. Foster to these shores. The POP Off Europe tour takes in seven shows, including years, singer-songwriter, showcases at The Great Escape (20 May), Liverpool Sound City (29 May), with whom POP musician and producer Montreal are recipients of the QC-UK Cultural Cooperation Fund, and Focus Wales (13 May) Jesse MacCormack has festivals.