Young voices around the mountain

Performing Arts & Entertainment in Canada, Summer, 2002

From May 30 to June 7 Montreal hosts the first-ever Jeunesses Musicales Montreal International Competition (JMMIC) for young musicians from around the world. The competition will feature a different discipline each year, beginning with voice, and moving on to piano (2003) and violin (2004). This year 281 singers from 45 countries applied for the competition. Judges Joseph Rouleau (bass), Jan Simons (baritone and faculty member at McGill University) and Stuart Hamilton (a vocal coach and host of the popular Opera Quiz on CBC Radio Two) narrowed the field down to 58 singers from 22 countries, who will perform during the semi-finals. Presented in partnership with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, JMMIC 2002 takes place at Montreal's Centre Pierre-Peladeau and Place des Arts. The competitors will be judged by a stellar panel made up of mezzo-sopranos Teresa Berganza and Marilyn Horne, soprano Grace Bumbry, tenor Jon Vickers, basses Cesare Siepi and Joseph Rouleau and musicologist Gilles Cantagrel.

Originally founded in Belgium in 1940 and now an international movement, Jeunesses Musicales exists to develop interest in music by supporting developing artists and by presenting concerts in both urban and rural areas. Jeunesses Musicales Canada, established in 1949 by Gilles Lefebvre, has given performing opportunities to countless young musicians, many of whom -- like Maureen Forrester, Louis Quilico and the members of the Orford String Quartet - have gone on to become widely known. Today Jeunesses Musicales Canada presents almost 80 artists in about 150 performance venues each year, reaching about 85,000 people. The International Competition adds one more exciting facet to JMC's annual programming.