The Eastern Township’s best kept cultural secret celebrates 35th anniversary

The 35^th Season of the Musique chez nous concert series continues to feature seasoned and emerging artists in a cultural space like no other to further the legacy of its founder, Howard Brown.  

The 2019-20 Musique Chez Nous concert season will be launched at Bandeen Hall with the Howard Brown Memorial Concert on Friday, September 20, 2019. Faculty members from the Music Department and their guests will perform in our annual tribute to the founder of the department. Season brochures will also be available at the event. All are invited to a reception following the concert to meet the artists.

The program includes appearances by pianists Ross Osmun, Francine Leng, and Fannie Gaudette, guitarists Mike Gauthier, Guillaume Gilbert and Andrew MacDonald, bassists Dave Gelfand and Guy Breton, soprano Melinda Enns and the Northern Comfort Duet with singer Sonia Patenaude and guitarist Ben Kinsley.

This year, proceeds raised from the Howard Brown Memorial Concert admission price and donations will go to the Canadian Friends of University of the Bahamas.  The money will be used to support relief and restoration efforts for North Campus of the University of the Bahamas in East Grand Bahama, which was severely affected by Hurricane Dorian. Bishop’s has a special connection to the University of the Bahamas through a previous Principal of ours, Janyne Hodder, who has actually worked on the North Campus in recent years.

Alongside Dr. Osmun, co-Artistic Directors Sonia Patenaude and professor Jack Eby have created an enthralling 35^th season for Musique Chez Nous which will feature many highlights, including performances by well-known local musicians such as Sherbrooke’s Fannie Gaudette, who takes on an additional role as a singer-songwriter  under a singular stage name, Fannie, to perform original music composed on the text of local lyricist Normand Achim; former Sherbrooke resident, Olivier Hébert brings the LoFi Octet project (string quartet combined with jazz ensemble); a unique performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons by a quartet of violas de gamba, Les Voix Humaines Consort; composer and Bishop’s University professor Dr. Andrew Paul MacDonald will premiere,  not one but two, new works performed on separate occasions (baritone Jeremy Hyw Williams with pianist Paula Fan in October 2019 and Duo François in January 2020, the Bishop’s University Singers welcome guest director Jean-Philippe Dutil and will also join several local choirs in a performance with the Sherbrooke Symphony Orchestra.

Admission for students, from Bishop’s as well as other schools, is free. Subscriptions for the series are available for adults (six concerts for $90) and seniors (six concerts for $60). Individual tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for seniors and can be purchased in advance at the Centennial Theatre Box Office in person or by phone (819-822-9692), or at Bandeen Hall the evening of the concert. Tickets prices differ for concerts by the Bishop’s University Singers. Parking on Bishop’s campus is free on concert nights.

Created by former music professor Tom Gordon, Musique Chez Nous is a student-run concert series of the Bishop’s University’s Music Department, designed to showcase the talents of local musicians, visiting artists, and the academic excellence of Bishop’s own music faculty and students.

For more information about the Musique chez nous program, visit our website.

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MEDIA INQUIRIES:

Sonia Patenaude
Development Officer
Centennial Theatre
819-822-9600 ext. 2617
sonia.patenaude@ubishops.ca