Montreal Chamber Music Festival

The Montreal Chamber Music Festival is one of the finest of its kind in the world. Founded by its artistic director Denis Brott in 1995, the internationally acclaimed festival has presented more than 300 concerts and featured over 1,000 artists from Canada and abroad.

Here are some highlights from the 2019 edition:

• Gregory Charles will launch the festival on June 7 at Pollack Hall with the Montréal premiere of L’Air du Temps, a look back on the past 250 years of Western music.
• The festival welcomes back 2019 Grammy-winning violinist James Ehnes to perform the complete Beethoven Violin Sonatas with pianist Andrew Armstrong at Bourgie Concert Hall from June 13 to 15.
• Six outstanding pianists will perform the complete Beethoven Symphonies transcribed for piano by Franz Liszt at Bourgie Concert Hall from June 11 to 15.
• Metropolitan Opera tenor Joseph Kaiser returns home to Montréal to star in two programmes:  Masters in Performance with violinist Martin Beaver on June 11; and Viva Voce on June 12, featuring music by Brahms, Respighi, Richard Strauss and Chausson, when Kaiser will be joined by mezzo-soprano Jeanne Ireland.
• The festival continues its tradition of featuring Canada’s best emerging talent by presenting the Hottest Classical Artists Under 30 at Bourgie Concert Hall from June 11 to 15.
• To close this year’s festival, the Tchaïkovski, je vous aime concert at Bourgie Concert Hall on June 16 will pay homage to legendary Québec actor and playwright Albert Millaire by mounting a performance based on his script. The musical production will re-enact Tchaikovsky’s intimate letters with his patron Nadezhda von Meck. Musicians will play on 18th and 19th century instruments made by the world’s greatest luthiers. The programme includes Vivaldi’s Concerto for Four Violins, Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue and Tchaikovsky’s Serenade for Strings.