FR
My Dear
Design:Marie-Claude Codsi
Concerto 101
The Concert Artists
Overview of the OSM Competition
Debunking the myths about classical music
Games and activities
Visual Guide
Godwin Friesen, piano
The Concert Artists
Leland Ko, cello
Malena Lorenson, bass trombone
Thomas Le Duc-Moreau, conductor
Julie Daoust, host
Leland
Ko
Winner of the OSM 2023 Competition, cello
Leland Philip Ko has always had an overflow of energy. This has led him to various callings, from tennis and distance running, to calligraphy and origami. It's important for him to experience something with his audiences and colleagues every time he walks out on stage Though he has chosen to dedicate himself to classical music, he does his best to remember and live by a former mentor’s advice that music is about life, not the other way around.
Getting to know Leland
Leland in action
At the concert
Photo @Tam Lan Truong
Godwin
Friesen
Winner of the OSM 2022 Competition, piano
Godwin Friesen won the OSM Competition in 2022. He also won the 2023 Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition with the Rilian Trio. Godwin plays music by other people and music he creates himself—his own works for solo piano and ensemble are an important part of his recent and upcoming performances in North America and Europe. He studient pianon at the Glenn Gould School and Université de Montréal.
Getting to know Godwin
Godwin in action
At the concert
Photo @ Simon Remark
Malena
Lorenson
Second prize - OSM 2024 Competition,bass trombone
Malena is a bass trombonist from Red Deer, Alberta. She has won several distinctions as a soloist, including second prize in the 2024 OSM Competition and first place in the 2024 International Trombone Festival's George Roberts Competition. Malena is currently completing her bachelor's degree at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal.
Getting to know Malena
Malena in action
At the concert
Photo @ Jean-Christophe Melançon
Julie
Daoust
Concert host
Julie Daoust graduated from the Conservatoire de Québec in 2000. She has appeared on stage in some twenty theatrical productions. For 10 years, she was co-artistic director of Théâtre des Tournesols. On the small screen, she took part in several TV series, such as Comme des têtes pas de poules, 5è rang, Doute raisonnable, Plan B, Stat, and many others. For 15 years, she played Ariane Trudeau in the TV series L'Auberge du chien noir. Trained as a musician, she has collaborated with several classical music ensembles, including the OSM, Les Petits Violons, I Musici de Montréal and the OM. She is currently on tour throughout Quebec with the show Brel et Barbara héros fragiles, and can be heard on Radio-Canada's ici musique and ici musique classique as a host.
Julie in action
Photo @ Eva Maude
Thomas
Le Duc-Moreau
Conductor
Upon graduating from the Conservatoire, Thomas was appointed assistant conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. In symphonic concerts, Thomas has conducted major Québec and Canadian orchestras such as Les Violons du Roy, as well as the symphony orchestras of Montréal, Québec, l'Agora, Sherbrooke, l'Estuaire, Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo. He has also conducted the Prague National Theatre Orchestra in the Czech Republic. Thomas is a graduate of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. In 2022, he received the very first Prix Joseph-Rouleau awarded by the Fondation du Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec in recognition of the promising beginnings of his career.
An interview with Thomas
Concerto 101
In love with the concerto?
What is a concerto?
Unusual concertos
OSM musicians in action
What is a concerto?
The concerto is a piece of music in which the orchestra accompanies a soloist. The soloist is the star of the show, and the concerto gives him or her the opportunity to demonstrate their technical and expressive virtuosity.
The concerto generally has 3 movements: a fast one, a slow one and a fast one again for the grand finale.
You will notice at the concert that soloists generally learn the music by heart, unlike orchestral musicians who have their scores in front of them.
Unusual concertos
Although most of the concertos were written for piano and violin, there are concertos for most instruments... including some highly unusual ones!
Checkmate! is a short piano concerto that sets Garry Kasparov's chess game against Deep Blue to music.
Listen here to a concerto for theremin (an electronic instrument with 2 antennas)!
Listen to Ricochet, a concerto for ping-pong!
OSM musicians in action!
Here you can see OSM trumpeter Paul Merkelo performing Gabriela Ortiz's Trumpet Concerto Altar de bronce.
Soloists are very often guest artists, but sometimes OSM musicians have the chance to play as soloists with the orchestra. Listen here to Todd Cope, clarinettist with the OSM, interpret Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major K.622.
Here, OSM concertmaster Andrew Wan performs Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major.
In love with the concerto
Here are a few not-to-be-missed free events featuring great soloists and concertos:
The OSM gives way to its Virée classique festival in August, with its opening concert at the Olympic Stadium.
The OSM Competition finals in November showcases the next generation of Canadian musicians!
Every year, the OSM organizes concerts in the city's parks to celebrate summer.
Overview of the OSM Competition
1940
450
The OSM Competition was inaugurated in 1940, just 6 years after the orchestra's creation (1934).
Since its inception, the OSM Competition has rewarded more than 450 winners, some of whom received this honor two or three times.
The 3 soloists from My Dear Concerto have won prizes in previous editions of the OSM Competition. The OSM Competition is considered today to be the most prestigious Canadian competition in performance. It is open to all orchestral families and to singing, on an alternating basis. The 2024 edition was dedicated to wind instruments.
140,000
+ INFO
1962
Nearly $140,000 in prizes, bursaries, training courses and concert engagements are awarded to the winners. In the early days of the competition, a $100 bursary was awarded to the most outstanding performer, who was also invited to give a public performance with the OSM.
85
From its beginnings in 1962, the OSM Competition was called the Prix Archambault, in honor of its patron Edmond Archambault (best known as the founder of the Archambault music store, which opened in 1896). At the time, the Competition was aimed primarily at young performers (piano, violin, cello and voice) from the greater Montreal area.
2024 marked the 85th edition of the competition since its inception.
Many current OSM musicians have won prizes at the OSM Competition in the past. Find out more about some of them here:
Edmond Archambault
Number of Competition stages: preliminary stage in video format, semi-finals in solo mode in front of an audience and the finals with orchestra in front of an audience.
+ INFO
Debunking the myths about classical music
Listen to the following videos to learn more about different aspects of classical music (videos in French only)!
Classical music titles explained!
Why should you listen to classical music according to OSM musicians?
Info
Info
To applaud or not to applaud during a concert?
How do you become an orchestral musician?
Info
Info
Games andactivities
Guess who!
Quiz
Journalist for a day
Concert report!
Free post-concert workshop with École en réseau (in French)
Guess who
Link each picture to the corresponding person by sliding the pointing hand. Click on the eye to see the answers.
Former patron of the OSM Competition.
Conductor at the concert.
Concert soloist.
Italian composer who wrote the greatest number of concertos.
Concert host.
Journalist for a day
Julie needs you!
ACCEPTED APPLICATIONS
The OSM invites you to be a journalist for a day! If you had a question for Leland, Godwin, Malena or Thomas, what would it be?
Julie will be able to ask some of the questions submitted during the concert.
+ CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE FORM
Photo @ Antoine Saito
Add your first name and the name of your school to the form for a chance to be mentioned at the concerts!
“I really enjoyed Prokofiev's Piano Concerto, it was magical! I recommend this concert to everyone!”
Concert report
The OSM invites you to evaluate the music you will hear at the concert! Print out the concert report form and bring your pencil to give constructive criticism of the concert and the live works.
Photo @ Antoine Saito
Question 1
There only exists concertos for piano, violin, cello and tuba.
True
False
Question 2
The OSM Competition was created in:
1952
1930
1940
Question 3
How many black and white keys does the piano have?
88
95
a round number
Question 4
How many movements does a concerto usually have?
3 movements
4 movements
None, it's a long continuous piece.
Question 5
What is a concerto?
All classical music pieces are concertos.
A piece of music in which the orchestra accompanies a soloist.
It's a piece of music played in a short concert.
Question 6
A person can be a soloist in a concerto as well as conducting the orchestra.
True
False
Question 7
John Williams, film music composer for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, has conducted student matinees at the OSM in the past.
True
False
Question 8
How many strings does a cello have?
1 single string wrapped around itself
Question 9
Which composer wrote the most concertos?
Prokofiev
Vivaldi
Mendelssohn
Question 10
Elgar's Cello Concerto was written after what event?
Celebrating the arrival of the 20th century
World War I
World War II
CONGRATULATIONS
Did you know that even young kids can play as soloists with an orchestra?
Winner OSM Competition Bassoon, 1994
Stéphane Lévesque
3rd place OSM Competition Violin, 2004
Jean-Sébastien Roy
2nd place OSM Competition Violin 1994
Marianne Dugal
2nd place ex-aequo OSM Competition Piano 1985
Olga Gross
2nd place OSM Competition Violin, 2010
Victor Fournelle-Blain
2nd place OSM Competition Oboe 2011
Vincent Boilard
Winner OSM Competition Violin 2007
Andrew Wan
Here you can see Malena in action at the OSM 2024 Competition finals! She'll be playing the 2nd movement of this concerto at the concert.
1678-1741
Antonio Vivaldi
Did you know that the Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi wrote more concertos than any other composer - over 500 in all! He composed some 230 for the violin, the instrument he played.
Every journey is different! Listen to Pierre Beaudry, bass trombonist with the OSM for over 40 years, talk about his personal experience.
Here you can see Leland in action at the OSM 2023 Competition final!
Bass Trombone
Rarely a soloist, the bass trombone is a member of the brass family. The difference between the standard (tenor) trombone and the bass trombone is its size! In fact, the bass trombone has a wider pipe and a bell with a larger diameter to enable it to be more sonorous when playing low notes. There is usually one bass trombone in the brass section of the orchestra.
If you couldn't play your instrument, what other instrument would you play?
The horn!
Do you have a pre- or post-concert ritual?
I like to have an iced cappuccino on concert days :)
If you could meet any musician, who would you want to meet?
Vivian Lee, a former trombonist with the orchestra (the first woman to join the OSM brass family in 1990).
What's your favorite piece of music?
Currently, Mahler's 5th Symphony.
What's your favorite dessert?
Boston cream donuts!
What's a movement?
In classical music, a piece of music is sometimes divided into different sections called movements. This is true of symphonies (which usually have 4 movements) and concertos (which have 3). It's a bit like some sports, which have different periods (hockey), innings or sets (tennis) to complete a full game.
Listen here to a short interview from 2020 in which Thomas talks about his career as a conductor (in French only)!
The piano
The piano is a struck string instrument. The piano produces sound by means of small felt hammers striking metal strings. With its 88 black and white keys, the piano is the instrument with the widest register in the orchestra. While upright and grand pianos use the same sound-producing system, the digital piano has no strings or hammers, and reproduces sounds electronically via pre-recorded tones.
Here you can see the inside of an upright piano, with felted hammers and metal strings (this part is normally hidden by a wooden panel).
Find out more about how a piano works here (video in French)!
Do you have a pre- or post-concert ritual?
Before concerts I like to have a little bit of chocolate, if possible (any kind of chocolate!), and afterwards I like to have a big meal! 😊
If you couldn't play your instrument, what other instrument would you play?
If I could choose any other instrument to play, it would be either oboe or English horn.
If you could meet any composer, who would you want to meet?
I would love to have dinner with Franz Joseph Haydn, I’ve heard he was quite the jokester.
What's your favorite piece of music?
My favorite piece is… whichever one I’m playing at the moment! But if you forced me to choose, I would say Fauré's Requiem.
What's your favorite dessert?
I love all things sweet, Hong Kong or Portuguese egg tarts, pineapple buns or any kind of pie, cinnamon rolls, ice cream… really fudgy brownies… it’d be harder to find dessert I don’t like!!
Answers
Edmond Archambault
Malena Lorenson
Antonio Vivaldi
Julie Daoust
Thomas Le Duc-Moreau
Godwin will play the 1st movement of Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto at the concert.
Prokofiev composed a total of 5 piano concertos, the 3rd being recognized as the most popular. It took him 8 years to create it. The work had its world premiere in Chicago in 1921 with the composer himself at the piano. He later acknowledged that it was a very difficult work to play. It is often chosen by pianists in piano competitions.
Sergueï Prokofiev (1891-1953) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. He is considered an important composer of the 20th century.
Violoncelle
La famille des cordes frottées est constituée, du plus aigu au plus grave : du violon, de l’alto, du violoncelle, de la contrebasse et même de l’octobasse.
Tout comme les autres instruments de sa famille, le violoncelle est en bois et peut se jouer en pinçant les cordes (pizzicato) ou avec un archet (arco). Il dispose de 4 cordes accordées (do, sol, ré, la) et se joue assis.
Le violoncelle est considéré comme l’instrument ayant la tessiture la plus proche de la voix humaine.
Lisztomania
Did you know that the concept of star and even superstar is far from new? The Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was such a celebrity that the term Lisztomania was coined in the 1840s to describe the behavior of his hysterical super-fans in his presence.
If you couldn't play your instrument, what other instrument would you play?
If I couldn't play the piano, I'd certainly be a singer!
Do you have a pre- or post-concert ritual?
If I have a ritual, it's simply a bit of final practice for difficult passages.
If you could meet any composer, who would you want to meet?
I'd really like to meet J.S. Bach, he's been so prolific!
What's your favorite piece of music?
If your favorite piece is the one you spend the most time on, it would be Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations.
What's your favorite dessert?
My favorite dessert is the one I eat with my loved ones. A trifle is good.
Here are a few excerpts from the Brel et Barbara show, in which Julie Daoust plays the French singer Barbara (1930-1997) best known for her hit L'Aigle noir.
For reference, here are the titles of some of the works you will hear at the concert:
1) Sergueï Prokofiev, Piano Concerto no. 3 in C major 2) John Williams, Tuba Concerto, trans. for Bass Trombone 3) Edward Elgar, Cello Concerto in E minor, op. 85
Leland will perform the 4th movement of Elgar's Cello Concerto at the concert.
This cello concerto was composed just after the end of the First World War, in 1919, and echoes this devastating event. It is one of the composer's last great compositions. The concerto ends with a nod to the beginning of the piece, with the same 4 chords that were heard at the beginning of the first movement.
Edward Elgar (1857-1934) was a British composer. You may already have heard some of his works, such as Pomp and Circumstances (with an excerpt often used at graduations) or Salut d'Amour.
You can listen to the piece here.
At the concert, Malena will play the 2nd movement of John Williams' Tuba Concerto.
This piece is one of the few concertos ever written for tuba. It was later transposed for another instrument, the bass trombone. This 3-movement concerto was composed in 1985 by John Williams to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Boston Pops Orchestra.
Here you can see John Williams (b. 1932) conducting the OSM at a school matinee in 1984. Williams is an American composer and conductor best known for his film scores (Jurassic Park, E.T., Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter and many others)!
To listen to the tuba version, click here!Do you think it sounds different when Malena plays it on bass trombone?
Here you can see Godwin at the OSM 2022 Competition finals! Note that he will be playing the 1st movement of this piece at the concert.
Did you know that a soloist can also conduct an orchestra at the same time? Here you can see conductor, pianist and composer Leonard Bernstein at work on Ravel's Concerto for Piano!
My Dear Concerto!
Orchestre Montréal
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Transcript
FR
My Dear
Design:Marie-Claude Codsi
Concerto 101
The Concert Artists
Overview of the OSM Competition
Debunking the myths about classical music
Games and activities
Visual Guide
Godwin Friesen, piano
The Concert Artists
Leland Ko, cello
Malena Lorenson, bass trombone
Thomas Le Duc-Moreau, conductor
Julie Daoust, host
Leland
Ko
Winner of the OSM 2023 Competition, cello
Leland Philip Ko has always had an overflow of energy. This has led him to various callings, from tennis and distance running, to calligraphy and origami. It's important for him to experience something with his audiences and colleagues every time he walks out on stage Though he has chosen to dedicate himself to classical music, he does his best to remember and live by a former mentor’s advice that music is about life, not the other way around.
Getting to know Leland
Leland in action
At the concert
Photo @Tam Lan Truong
Godwin
Friesen
Winner of the OSM 2022 Competition, piano
Godwin Friesen won the OSM Competition in 2022. He also won the 2023 Trondheim International Chamber Music Competition with the Rilian Trio. Godwin plays music by other people and music he creates himself—his own works for solo piano and ensemble are an important part of his recent and upcoming performances in North America and Europe. He studient pianon at the Glenn Gould School and Université de Montréal.
Getting to know Godwin
Godwin in action
At the concert
Photo @ Simon Remark
Malena
Lorenson
Second prize - OSM 2024 Competition,bass trombone
Malena is a bass trombonist from Red Deer, Alberta. She has won several distinctions as a soloist, including second prize in the 2024 OSM Competition and first place in the 2024 International Trombone Festival's George Roberts Competition. Malena is currently completing her bachelor's degree at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal.
Getting to know Malena
Malena in action
At the concert
Photo @ Jean-Christophe Melançon
Julie
Daoust
Concert host
Julie Daoust graduated from the Conservatoire de Québec in 2000. She has appeared on stage in some twenty theatrical productions. For 10 years, she was co-artistic director of Théâtre des Tournesols. On the small screen, she took part in several TV series, such as Comme des têtes pas de poules, 5è rang, Doute raisonnable, Plan B, Stat, and many others. For 15 years, she played Ariane Trudeau in the TV series L'Auberge du chien noir. Trained as a musician, she has collaborated with several classical music ensembles, including the OSM, Les Petits Violons, I Musici de Montréal and the OM. She is currently on tour throughout Quebec with the show Brel et Barbara héros fragiles, and can be heard on Radio-Canada's ici musique and ici musique classique as a host.
Julie in action
Photo @ Eva Maude
Thomas
Le Duc-Moreau
Conductor
Upon graduating from the Conservatoire, Thomas was appointed assistant conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. In symphonic concerts, Thomas has conducted major Québec and Canadian orchestras such as Les Violons du Roy, as well as the symphony orchestras of Montréal, Québec, l'Agora, Sherbrooke, l'Estuaire, Hamilton and Kitchener-Waterloo. He has also conducted the Prague National Theatre Orchestra in the Czech Republic. Thomas is a graduate of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. In 2022, he received the very first Prix Joseph-Rouleau awarded by the Fondation du Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec in recognition of the promising beginnings of his career.
An interview with Thomas
Concerto 101
In love with the concerto?
What is a concerto?
Unusual concertos
OSM musicians in action
What is a concerto?
The concerto is a piece of music in which the orchestra accompanies a soloist. The soloist is the star of the show, and the concerto gives him or her the opportunity to demonstrate their technical and expressive virtuosity.
The concerto generally has 3 movements: a fast one, a slow one and a fast one again for the grand finale.
You will notice at the concert that soloists generally learn the music by heart, unlike orchestral musicians who have their scores in front of them.
Unusual concertos
Although most of the concertos were written for piano and violin, there are concertos for most instruments... including some highly unusual ones!
Checkmate! is a short piano concerto that sets Garry Kasparov's chess game against Deep Blue to music.
Listen here to a concerto for theremin (an electronic instrument with 2 antennas)!
Listen to Ricochet, a concerto for ping-pong!
OSM musicians in action!
Here you can see OSM trumpeter Paul Merkelo performing Gabriela Ortiz's Trumpet Concerto Altar de bronce.
Soloists are very often guest artists, but sometimes OSM musicians have the chance to play as soloists with the orchestra. Listen here to Todd Cope, clarinettist with the OSM, interpret Mozart's Clarinet Concerto in A Major K.622.
Here, OSM concertmaster Andrew Wan performs Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D major.
In love with the concerto
Here are a few not-to-be-missed free events featuring great soloists and concertos:
The OSM gives way to its Virée classique festival in August, with its opening concert at the Olympic Stadium.
The OSM Competition finals in November showcases the next generation of Canadian musicians!
Every year, the OSM organizes concerts in the city's parks to celebrate summer.
Overview of the OSM Competition
1940
450
The OSM Competition was inaugurated in 1940, just 6 years after the orchestra's creation (1934).
Since its inception, the OSM Competition has rewarded more than 450 winners, some of whom received this honor two or three times.
The 3 soloists from My Dear Concerto have won prizes in previous editions of the OSM Competition. The OSM Competition is considered today to be the most prestigious Canadian competition in performance. It is open to all orchestral families and to singing, on an alternating basis. The 2024 edition was dedicated to wind instruments.
140,000
+ INFO
1962
Nearly $140,000 in prizes, bursaries, training courses and concert engagements are awarded to the winners. In the early days of the competition, a $100 bursary was awarded to the most outstanding performer, who was also invited to give a public performance with the OSM.
85
From its beginnings in 1962, the OSM Competition was called the Prix Archambault, in honor of its patron Edmond Archambault (best known as the founder of the Archambault music store, which opened in 1896). At the time, the Competition was aimed primarily at young performers (piano, violin, cello and voice) from the greater Montreal area.
2024 marked the 85th edition of the competition since its inception.
Many current OSM musicians have won prizes at the OSM Competition in the past. Find out more about some of them here:
Edmond Archambault
Number of Competition stages: preliminary stage in video format, semi-finals in solo mode in front of an audience and the finals with orchestra in front of an audience.
+ INFO
Debunking the myths about classical music
Listen to the following videos to learn more about different aspects of classical music (videos in French only)!
Classical music titles explained!
Why should you listen to classical music according to OSM musicians?
Info
Info
To applaud or not to applaud during a concert?
How do you become an orchestral musician?
Info
Info
Games andactivities
Guess who!
Quiz
Journalist for a day
Concert report!
Free post-concert workshop with École en réseau (in French)
Guess who
Link each picture to the corresponding person by sliding the pointing hand. Click on the eye to see the answers.
Former patron of the OSM Competition.
Conductor at the concert.
Concert soloist.
Italian composer who wrote the greatest number of concertos.
Concert host.
Journalist for a day
Julie needs you!
ACCEPTED APPLICATIONS
The OSM invites you to be a journalist for a day! If you had a question for Leland, Godwin, Malena or Thomas, what would it be?
Julie will be able to ask some of the questions submitted during the concert.
+ CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE FORM
Photo @ Antoine Saito
Add your first name and the name of your school to the form for a chance to be mentioned at the concerts!
“I really enjoyed Prokofiev's Piano Concerto, it was magical! I recommend this concert to everyone!”
Concert report
The OSM invites you to evaluate the music you will hear at the concert! Print out the concert report form and bring your pencil to give constructive criticism of the concert and the live works.
Photo @ Antoine Saito
Question 1
There only exists concertos for piano, violin, cello and tuba.
True
False
Question 2
The OSM Competition was created in:
1952
1930
1940
Question 3
How many black and white keys does the piano have?
88
95
a round number
Question 4
How many movements does a concerto usually have?
3 movements
4 movements
None, it's a long continuous piece.
Question 5
What is a concerto?
All classical music pieces are concertos.
A piece of music in which the orchestra accompanies a soloist.
It's a piece of music played in a short concert.
Question 6
A person can be a soloist in a concerto as well as conducting the orchestra.
True
False
Question 7
John Williams, film music composer for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones series, has conducted student matinees at the OSM in the past.
True
False
Question 8
How many strings does a cello have?
1 single string wrapped around itself
Question 9
Which composer wrote the most concertos?
Prokofiev
Vivaldi
Mendelssohn
Question 10
Elgar's Cello Concerto was written after what event?
Celebrating the arrival of the 20th century
World War I
World War II
CONGRATULATIONS
Did you know that even young kids can play as soloists with an orchestra?
Winner OSM Competition Bassoon, 1994
Stéphane Lévesque
3rd place OSM Competition Violin, 2004
Jean-Sébastien Roy
2nd place OSM Competition Violin 1994
Marianne Dugal
2nd place ex-aequo OSM Competition Piano 1985
Olga Gross
2nd place OSM Competition Violin, 2010
Victor Fournelle-Blain
2nd place OSM Competition Oboe 2011
Vincent Boilard
Winner OSM Competition Violin 2007
Andrew Wan
Here you can see Malena in action at the OSM 2024 Competition finals! She'll be playing the 2nd movement of this concerto at the concert.
1678-1741
Antonio Vivaldi
Did you know that the Italian composer Antonio Vivaldi wrote more concertos than any other composer - over 500 in all! He composed some 230 for the violin, the instrument he played.
Every journey is different! Listen to Pierre Beaudry, bass trombonist with the OSM for over 40 years, talk about his personal experience.
Here you can see Leland in action at the OSM 2023 Competition final!
Bass Trombone
Rarely a soloist, the bass trombone is a member of the brass family. The difference between the standard (tenor) trombone and the bass trombone is its size! In fact, the bass trombone has a wider pipe and a bell with a larger diameter to enable it to be more sonorous when playing low notes. There is usually one bass trombone in the brass section of the orchestra.
If you couldn't play your instrument, what other instrument would you play?
The horn!
Do you have a pre- or post-concert ritual?
I like to have an iced cappuccino on concert days :)
If you could meet any musician, who would you want to meet?
Vivian Lee, a former trombonist with the orchestra (the first woman to join the OSM brass family in 1990).
What's your favorite piece of music?
Currently, Mahler's 5th Symphony.
What's your favorite dessert?
Boston cream donuts!
What's a movement?
In classical music, a piece of music is sometimes divided into different sections called movements. This is true of symphonies (which usually have 4 movements) and concertos (which have 3). It's a bit like some sports, which have different periods (hockey), innings or sets (tennis) to complete a full game.
Listen here to a short interview from 2020 in which Thomas talks about his career as a conductor (in French only)!
The piano
The piano is a struck string instrument. The piano produces sound by means of small felt hammers striking metal strings. With its 88 black and white keys, the piano is the instrument with the widest register in the orchestra. While upright and grand pianos use the same sound-producing system, the digital piano has no strings or hammers, and reproduces sounds electronically via pre-recorded tones.
Here you can see the inside of an upright piano, with felted hammers and metal strings (this part is normally hidden by a wooden panel).
Find out more about how a piano works here (video in French)!
Do you have a pre- or post-concert ritual?
Before concerts I like to have a little bit of chocolate, if possible (any kind of chocolate!), and afterwards I like to have a big meal! 😊
If you couldn't play your instrument, what other instrument would you play?
If I could choose any other instrument to play, it would be either oboe or English horn.
If you could meet any composer, who would you want to meet?
I would love to have dinner with Franz Joseph Haydn, I’ve heard he was quite the jokester.
What's your favorite piece of music?
My favorite piece is… whichever one I’m playing at the moment! But if you forced me to choose, I would say Fauré's Requiem.
What's your favorite dessert?
I love all things sweet, Hong Kong or Portuguese egg tarts, pineapple buns or any kind of pie, cinnamon rolls, ice cream… really fudgy brownies… it’d be harder to find dessert I don’t like!!
Answers
Edmond Archambault
Malena Lorenson
Antonio Vivaldi
Julie Daoust
Thomas Le Duc-Moreau
Godwin will play the 1st movement of Prokofiev's 3rd Piano Concerto at the concert.
Prokofiev composed a total of 5 piano concertos, the 3rd being recognized as the most popular. It took him 8 years to create it. The work had its world premiere in Chicago in 1921 with the composer himself at the piano. He later acknowledged that it was a very difficult work to play. It is often chosen by pianists in piano competitions.
Sergueï Prokofiev (1891-1953) was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor. He is considered an important composer of the 20th century.
Violoncelle
La famille des cordes frottées est constituée, du plus aigu au plus grave : du violon, de l’alto, du violoncelle, de la contrebasse et même de l’octobasse. Tout comme les autres instruments de sa famille, le violoncelle est en bois et peut se jouer en pinçant les cordes (pizzicato) ou avec un archet (arco). Il dispose de 4 cordes accordées (do, sol, ré, la) et se joue assis.
Le violoncelle est considéré comme l’instrument ayant la tessiture la plus proche de la voix humaine.
Lisztomania
Did you know that the concept of star and even superstar is far from new? The Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was such a celebrity that the term Lisztomania was coined in the 1840s to describe the behavior of his hysterical super-fans in his presence.
If you couldn't play your instrument, what other instrument would you play?
If I couldn't play the piano, I'd certainly be a singer!
Do you have a pre- or post-concert ritual?
If I have a ritual, it's simply a bit of final practice for difficult passages.
If you could meet any composer, who would you want to meet?
I'd really like to meet J.S. Bach, he's been so prolific!
What's your favorite piece of music?
If your favorite piece is the one you spend the most time on, it would be Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations.
What's your favorite dessert?
My favorite dessert is the one I eat with my loved ones. A trifle is good.
Here are a few excerpts from the Brel et Barbara show, in which Julie Daoust plays the French singer Barbara (1930-1997) best known for her hit L'Aigle noir.
For reference, here are the titles of some of the works you will hear at the concert:
1) Sergueï Prokofiev, Piano Concerto no. 3 in C major 2) John Williams, Tuba Concerto, trans. for Bass Trombone 3) Edward Elgar, Cello Concerto in E minor, op. 85
Leland will perform the 4th movement of Elgar's Cello Concerto at the concert.
This cello concerto was composed just after the end of the First World War, in 1919, and echoes this devastating event. It is one of the composer's last great compositions. The concerto ends with a nod to the beginning of the piece, with the same 4 chords that were heard at the beginning of the first movement.
Edward Elgar (1857-1934) was a British composer. You may already have heard some of his works, such as Pomp and Circumstances (with an excerpt often used at graduations) or Salut d'Amour.
You can listen to the piece here.
At the concert, Malena will play the 2nd movement of John Williams' Tuba Concerto.
This piece is one of the few concertos ever written for tuba. It was later transposed for another instrument, the bass trombone. This 3-movement concerto was composed in 1985 by John Williams to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Boston Pops Orchestra.
Here you can see John Williams (b. 1932) conducting the OSM at a school matinee in 1984. Williams is an American composer and conductor best known for his film scores (Jurassic Park, E.T., Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter and many others)!
To listen to the tuba version, click here!Do you think it sounds different when Malena plays it on bass trombone?
Here you can see Godwin at the OSM 2022 Competition finals! Note that he will be playing the 1st movement of this piece at the concert.
Did you know that a soloist can also conduct an orchestra at the same time? Here you can see conductor, pianist and composer Leonard Bernstein at work on Ravel's Concerto for Piano!