1 YEAR AGO: HEROES

published on February 23, 2021

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One of our best memories of 2020 is undoubtedly the creation of Heroes, a show that was brought to life thanks to an amazing team and group of collaborators. This show, with music and video created by Myriam Boucher and Pierre-Luc Lecours, was commissioned by the Endowment Fund of La Folle Journée de Nantes (France), where we gave the official premiere in January 2020 (our last concert before everything stopped). Before our time in Nantes, we spent a short week in residence at The Centennial Theatre (Sherbrooke, QC) to rehearse and workshop, and it was one of those rare moments where the planets aligned - we were working in the ideal setting in a true spirit of camaraderie.

While we wait for the moment when we can share the complete show with you (either live or on video), we are so pleased to unveil these excerpts of Heroes, captured during this inspiring period of creation.

RITUÆLS: AVAILABLE NOW

published on December 13, 2020

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Rituæls is available for viewing  by donation until January 11, 2021. Donors who give $20 or more via our GoFundMe campaign (link below) will receive a link to watch within 24 hours.

A 60-minute feature-length film, Rituæls brings together works dating from the Middle Ages to the 21st century, launching a series of films that create various multidisciplinary universes.

RITUÆLS: THE CONCEPT

published on December 5, 2020

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Are you curious to hear more about our upcoming film-concert, RITUÆLS?  Thibault shares the inspiration behind our newest program.

“For me, the notion of ‘ritual’ connects to a tradition of knowledge and practices, a transmission across time and across generations, that provides us with tools to live together and to come together to form communities. In music, this perception of time can be emphasized by the use of continuous - motionless - sound. When this is a single note, we call it a drone, or in some cases, a pedal note. This type of sound is found in many musical cultures and the effect is always that of a strong anchor. The pieces that we have brought together in RITUÆLS all have such an element of consistency, whether it is a note held throughout a piece,  a chord that imperceptibly transforms, or a group of continuously repeated notes. This simple element creates a common thread that accompanies us through a succession of emotional phases: the spiritual, the intimate, the fragile, the dismayed, the grandiose, the humble, and many more.

To open the program, I made a proposition to the group: that we create a minimalist sound universe that would allow us slow down and to refocus our energies while immersing ourselves in the resonance of the space. We were inspired by the work of French composer Éliane Radigue (a pioneer in electronic music), notably through her work with our colleagues from the Bozzini Quartet here in Montreal. Radigue's works consist exclusively of drones, apparently motionless, while in constant transformation. It is this premise that gave the impulse for the collective improvisation that opens RITUÆLS, creating a fertile ground from which the rest of the program can take root.”

RITUÆLS

published on November 10, 2020

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Over the past few months, we've been thinking a lot about how to make the best of the current situation and the impossibility of presenting live concerts in the upcoming months. Our response is this: to create a series of concert recordings combining performance video with cinematographic footage, recorded in the highest quality (like a visual album). We call them film-concerts.

The first concert-film in the series, RITUÆLS, is a mystical artistic experience that brings together works by Hildegard von Bingen, Arvo Pärt, Nicole Lizée, Bryce Dessner, Michael Tippett, and Jocelyn Morlock. Our extensive technical set-up allowed us to take full advantage of the space at the Church of Saint-Pierre-Apôtre, creating a whole that echoes the grandeur and depth of the pieces on the program.

The sound and images are already breathtaking and we can’t wait to share the finished project. In the meantime, here's a short video shot last year that features clips from the program.

WE NEED YOUR HELP

published on October 22, 2020

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We have some big projects coming up this year and we need your support to bring them to their maximum potential. Click below to contribute or to learn more about what we're up to.

BACKYARD CONCERT

published on August 8, 2020

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After almost 5 months without playing together, we finally got together again and gave a little concert for our neighbours. Since this in itself was a special occasion, we made a video - collectively (!) - filmed by friends and neighbours from their respective balconies. Here's the result!

Thanks to everyone who came to their balcony or came down to the alley to share this moment with us, and to all who contributed their video footage. We couldn't have done it without you!

HEROES

published on December 18, 2019

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We can finally reveal our next project! It is an honor to have been invited for a second consecutive year to play in Nantes, not only to present several shows, but to create a brand new project to celebrate #Beethoven250.

We are delighted to present a first glimpse of HEROES, a music and video creation composed by a super duo: Myriam Boucher (with whom we collaborated for My Backyard, Somewhere) and Pierre-Luc Lecours!

Leading up to the show's premiere in Nantes in January 2020 (more details to come), we will be in creative residency at the Centennial Theater in Lennoxville - we will present the fruits of our work to the public on January 22nd. Come and join us if you can, it'll be something to see and hear!

HAPPY 1 YEAR

published on November 17, 2019

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To celebrate the 1 year anniversary of the release of our album No Time for Chamber Music, we are sharing a very special track that inspired the title of the album but could not be included on the official release: here is our take on the 3rd movement of Berio’s Sinfonia. Originally written for orchestra and 8 amplified voices, this movement is a musical collage, full of quotes and references (Mahler, Stravinsky, Debussy, Berg, Ravel, Boulez, to name a few), using the Scherzo from Mahler’s 2nd symphony as its framework. It features text taken from several sources - spoken, whispered, shouted, and sung by each of us - the most prominent being Samuel Beckett’s The Unnamable. The text and the music are a sort of stream of consciousness; all of the voices, instrumental or vocal, come together as the inner dialogue of an unnamed spirit. 

Special recognition goes to our dear friend Jen Thiessen, musician extraordinaire, for her incredible performance as main narrator on this track.