Summer Workshop

Every summer, collectif9 offers an intensive chamber music course at the Orford Music Academy.
Located within the Parc national du Mont-Orford, Orford Music Academy is a haven for advanced students and young professionals looking to enhance their musical skills in a peaceful and inspiring space. In a valley bordered by the Appalachian mountains, the park can be explored by an extensive system of trails through mature forests, some accessible on foot from the Academy grounds.
This session provides young musicians with multi-facetted experience to create and work on inspiring concert programmes, to engage audiences, and to create powerful experiences with fellow musicians.
Combining instrumental group practice with sessions of exchange and reflection, this course is punctuated by several performances. Students participate in:
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group rehearsals, coachings, and concerts;
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chamber music reading sessions;
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workshops that explore topics integral to the presentation of chamber music concerts today, such as programming, staging, stage presence and communication, and collaboration among musicians and other artists.
The course brings together up to 18 string players (violin, viola, cello, double bass) who play in a variety of groups, from quartets to nonets.
Photos
Previous editions
2025 edition
In this edition, the students broadened their technical and artistic horizons through a repertoire shaped by folk, baroque, minimalist, and contemporary styles. Entitled Soulèvement/Rising Up , the musical program evoked themes of struggle, oppression, exile and migration, through works such as Tancas Serradas a Muru by Francesco Ignazio Mannu, At the Purchaser's Option by Rhiannon Giddens and Testimony by Charlton Singleton.
Throughout the week, the young instrumentalists also participated in workshops focused on reflection and discussion regarding the presentation of chamber music concerts. They had the opportunity to join collectif9 as part of the Folk noir program to perform Nicole Lizée’s Keep Driving, I’m Dreaming, which features a pre-recorded track, as well as an excerpt from George Meyer’s Concerto Grosso.
Repertoire
Soulèvement/Rising up
Tancas Serradas a Muru* (Francesco Ignazio Mannu/arr. Osvaldo Golijov)
Volkswagens, mvt I. (Geof Holbrook)
Testimony (Charlton Singleton)
Lachrimae Antiquae (John Dowland)
At the Purchaser's Option (Rhiannon Giddens/arr. Jacob Garchik)
Volkswagens, mvt II. (Geof Holbrook)
The Fairy Queen, Prelude to Act V* (H. Purcell)
Entr'acte (Caroline Shaw)
Romanian dances* (Béla Bartók, Taraf de Haïdouks, Muzsikás)
Folk Noir with collectif9 as part of the Festival
Keep Driving, I'm Dreaming (Nicole Lizée)
Concerto Grosso, III. (George Meyer)
*arrangement by Thibault Bertin-Maghit
Students

Em Gagnon, violin
Analise Granados, violin
Anna Konrad, violin
Liliana Mahave, violin
Katya McBeth, violin
Holly Parker, violin
Edward Thibault-Echaquan, violin
Victoria Zhao, violin
Mary Deck, viola
Gabriella Liu, viola
Alicia Pucci, viola
Elena Swalm, viola
Jamie Clark, cello
Dorothy Nemeth, cello
Samuel Ouellet Mata, cello
Aidan Pan, cello
JP Bernabe, double bass
Iris Leck, double bass
2024 edition
Based on the programme La nuit des chevaux volants, the students explored the music of composer Osvaldo Golijov, with works influenced by the composer’s fascination with the baroque music of François Couperin and his inspiration from traditional Eastern European music. In keeping with the Festival’s theme of La Belle époque, the program also included pieces by Claude Debussy, Germaine Tailleferre, and a recently discovered and still little-known score by composer Charlotte Sohy.
Punctuated by several discussions around concert programming and communication and engagement with the public, the week also included a Q&A session on chamber music careers, a concert by the students, an open-air concert, and the performance of Clair de lune (C. Debussy) with collectif9 as part of the Festival.
Repertoire
La nuit des chevaux volants
La Sultanne* (François Couperin)
Tot Taraful* (Sapo Perapaskero)
Quatuor n°1, I. Allégresse (Charlotte Sohy)
Quatuor n°1, III. Badinage (C. Sohy)
Quatuor, III. Vif (Germaine Tailleferre)
Des pas sur la neige* (Claude Debussy)
Les Ombres errantes* (F. Couperin)
Lúa Descolorida* (Osvaldo Golijov)
3e Leçon de Ténèbres* (F. Couperin)
Night of the Flying Horses* (O. Golijov)
Clair de lune* (C. Debussy)
Slow Burn (Jessica Meyer)
Rind de hore* (S. Perapaskero)
Vagues et ombres as part of the Festival
Pre-concert
Les Ombres errantes* (F. Couperin)
Quatuor n°1, I. Allégresse (C. Sohy)
Quatuor n°1, III. Badinage (C. Sohy)
Quatuor, III. Vif (G. Tailleferre)
Concert (with collectif9)
Clair de lune* (C. Debussy)
*arrangement by Thibault Bertin-Maghit
Students

Amellie Gendron, violin
Andre Lu, violin
Anna Konrad, violin
Avery Scott, violin
Emily Xu, violin
Noor Rouhana, violin
River Sawchyn, violin
Sophie Reimer-Epp, violin
Anthony Orsi, viola
Iris Wu, viola
Nelleke Dagher, viola
Syara Robert, viola
Sandrine Long-Albert, cello
Tobias Kimmelman, cello
Amy Jong, cello
Alexandra Remondini, double bass
Jordan Sirvin, double bass
2023 edition
During this first edition, the students participated in 3 concerts including a concert titled La Soirée des animaux made up of quartets, quintets, sextets and some pieces for the full group. The memorable opening saw the musicians parade in an arrangement of Bayle de danzantes (Martínez Compañón) with bells and percussion. We will also remember the animal wind that impregnated L'Enterrement du chasseur (Gustav Mahler) as well as the ephemeral choir that concluded with eyes the color of time, VIII. enfolding (Leilehua Lanzilotti).
During the week, discussions and exchanges around the subject of Creating a memorable concert awakened minds and allowed for the integration of some creative elements into the different performances. The week ended with participation in Rituæls, collectif9’s concert at the Orford Music Festival, in which the students occupied the stage from the beginning to the end, performing a collective improvisation, works by Arvo Pärt, and more.
Repertoire
La Soirée des animaux
Bayle de danzantes* (Martínez Compañón)
Phantasy Quartet (Imogen Holst)
Cento partite sopra passacagli, extrait* (Girolamo Frescobaldi)
Morir non può il mio cuore (Maddalena Casulana)
String Quartet no.1, III. (Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson)
Ländler* (Gustav Mahler)
Voodoo Dolls (Jessie Montgomery)
Quintet in C Major, I. (Franz Schubert)
with eyes the color of time, VIII. enfolding (Leilehua Lanzilotti)
L'Enterrement du chasseur* (G. Mahler)
Tot Taraful* (Sapo Perapaskero)
Rituæls, avec collectif9 dans le cadre du Festival
Drone (improvisation)
O vis aeternitatis (Hildegard von Bingen)
Psalom (Arvo Pärt)
The Beatitudes, excerpt* (A. Pärt)
Summa (A. Pärt)
Tenebre, excerpt* (Bryce Dessner)
*arrangement by Thibault Bertin-Maghit
Students

Maia Dagher, violin
Maria Jojatu, violin
Beth McAlister, violin
River Sawchyn, violin
Nelleke Dagher, viola
Gavin Li, viola
Lily Liu, viola
Ethan Hess, cello
McKinley James, cello
Sarah Tindall, cello
Eric Yang, cello
Joe Weinberg, double bass
























