The Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal is a professional

early music Early music generally comprises Medieval music (500–1400) and Renaissance music (1400–1600), but can also include Baroque music (1600–1750) or Ancient music (before 500 AD). Originating in Europe, early music is a broad Dates of classical ...

vocal ensemble A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

based in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada.

History

The group was co-founded in 1974 by the

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

and

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

players Christopher Jackson, Réjean Poirier and Hélène Dugal, and became an important part of the

early music revival An early music revival is a renewed interest in music from ancient history or prehistory. The general discussion of how to perform music from ancient or earlier times did not become an important subject of interest until the 19th century, when Eu ...

in Montréal during the 1970s. Jackson became the ensemble's sole director in 1988. During the 1980s and 90s the group gave almost 90 concerts in France and Spain including performing and recording early music connected to Montréal and New France. In 2015, Andrew McAnerney was appointed Artistic Director following the death of Christopher Jackson.

Concerts

The Studio produces an annual season of ten concerts in Montréal, and appears regularly at festivals throughout Canada and internationally. Notable collaborations have included

Jordi Savall Jordi Savall i Bernadet (; born 1 August 1941) is a Spanish Conducting, conductor, composer and viol player. He has been one of the major figures in the field of Western early music since the 1970s, largely responsible for popularizing the viol ...

Emma Kirkby Dame Carolyn Emma Kirkby, (; born 26 February 1949) is an English soprano and early music specialist. She has sung on over 100 recordings. Education and early career Kirkby was educated at Hanford School, Sherborne School for Girls in Dorse ...

Ton Koopman Antonius Gerhardus Michael "Ton" Koopman (; born 2 October 1944) is a Dutch conductor, organist, harpsichordist, and musicologist, primarily known for being the founder and director of the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir. He is a professor ...

Skip Sempé Skip Sempé (born 1958 in New Orleans) is an American harpsichordist and conductor of the ensemble Capriccio Stravagante. Selected discography * Lully: divertissements - highlights from tragédie lyrique This is a glossary list of opera genre ...

Guillemette Laurens Guillemette Laurens (born 6 November 1957 in Fontainebleau, France) is a French operatic mezzo-soprano. Guillemette trained at the Academy of Toulouse and debuted as Baba in ''The Rake's Progress'' at Salle Favart. She took part in the premiere ...

Matthias Maute Matthias Maute (born 1963) is a virtuoso Recorder (musical instrument), recorder player and composer. Maute was born in Ebingen, Germany and studied in Freiburg and Utrecht (city), Utrecht with Baldrick Deerenberg and Marion Verbruggen. In 1990 ...

Noel Edison Noel Edison (born November 16, 1958) is a Canadian conductor. He is currently the conductor of the Edison Singers. Born in Toronto, Ontario, the son of George and Marian Clarissa (Frost), Edison graduated from Jarvis Collegiate in 1978 and Wilfr ...

Suzie LeBlanc Suzie LeBlanc (born 27 October 1961) is a Canadian soprano and early music specialist. She taught at McGill University from 2016 to 2020 and became the Artistic and Executive Director of Early Music Vancouver in 2021. She was named a member of t ...

and Daniel Taylor. The ensemble is flexible drawing on a regular core of professional vocalists and instrumentalists. Season concerts vary from a small ''a cappella'' ensemble with 12–14 singers, through to large-scale combined orchestra and chorus with a

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

made up of

period instruments In the historically informed performance movement, musicians perform classical music using restored or replicated versions of the instruments for which it was originally written. Often performances by such musicians are said to be "on authentic ...

Discography

Since its inception, the group has released 17 recordings, most recently on the

ATMA Classique ATMA Classique is an independent classical record label based in Montreal, and welcomes artists from Quebec, across Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territorie ...

label. * 1981

Heinrich Schütz Heinrich Schütz (; 6 November 1672) was a German early Baroque music, Baroque composer and organ (music), organist, generally regarded as the most important German composer before Johann Sebastian Bach and one of the most important composers of ...

, ''Historia der Geburt Jesu Christi'' * 1993

Heinrich Ignaz Franz Biber Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber correctly ''Biber von Bibern'' ( bapt. 12 August 1644, Stráž pod Ralskem – 3 May 1704, Salzburg) was a Bohemian-Austrian composer and violinist. Biber worked in Graz and Kroměříž before he illegally left ...

, ''Musique des Vêpres pour solistes, chœur et orchestre'' * 1995

Henri Desmarets Henri Desmarets (February 1661 – 7 September 1741) was a French composer of the Baroque music, Baroque period primarily known for his stage works, although he also composed sacred music as well as secular cantatas, songs and instrumenta ...

, ''Quatre motets lorrains'' * 1995 Histoires sacrées, ''Oratorios de Carisimi et Charpentier'' * 1995 ''Le chant de la Jérusalem des terres froides'' * 1997 ''Palestrina, Missa «Ut, Ré, Mi, Fa, Sol, La» and other sacred works'' * 1998 ''

Heavenly Spheres ''Heavenly Spheres'' (L'Harmonie des Sphères) is an a cappella choral album by the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal under the direction of Christopher Jackson (keyboardist), Christopher Jackson. Recorded in 1998, it features songs from ...

'' * 2001 ''Montréal et les Indiens Abénakis'' (reissue of ''Le chant de la Jérusalem des terres froides'') * 2002 ''Sacred Spaces'', Motets by Gabrieli and Monteverdi for choir and instruments * 2003

Giovanni Gabrieli Giovanni Gabrieli (/1557 – 12 August 1612) was an Italian composer and organist. He was one of the most influential musicians of his time, and represents the culmination of the style of the Venetian School (music), Venetian School, at the t ...

, ''Puer Natus Est'' * 2004

Arvo Pärt Arvo Pärt (; born 11 September 1935) is an Estonian composer of contemporary classical music. Since the late 1970s, Pärt has worked in a minimalist style that employs tintinnabuli, a compositional technique he invented. Pärt's music is in p ...

: ''

Stabat Mater The Stabat Mater is a 13th-century Christian hymn to the Virgin Mary that portrays her suffering as mother during the crucifixion of her son Jesus Christ. Its author may be either the Franciscan friar Jacopone da Todi or Pope Innocent III.Saba ...

'' * 2006

Marc-Antoine Charpentier Marc-Antoine Charpentier (; 1643 – 24 February 1704) was a French Baroque composer during the reign of Louis XIV. One of his most famous works is the main theme from the prelude of his ''Te Deum'' ''H.146, Marche en rondeau''. This theme is st ...

* 2007 ''Rise, O my soul'' * 2007 ''Roma Triumphans'' * 2009

Orlande de Lassus Orlando di Lasso ( various other names; probably – 14 June 1594) was a composer of the late Renaissance. The chief representative of the mature polyphonic style in the Franco-Flemish school, Lassus stands with William Byrd, Giovanni Pierlui ...

, ''Lagrime di San Pietro'' * 2011 ''Musica Vaticana'' (ACD22508) * 2014 ''Terra Tremuit'' (ACD22653) * 2017

, ''Laudate Dominum'' (ACD22746)

Awards

* 1998 Juno Award - Nominated «Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance» for ''Palestrina, Missa «Ut, Ré, Mi, Fa, Sol, La» and other sacred works'' * 1999

Prix Félix Prix was an American power pop band formed in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1975 by Tommy Hoehn and Jon Tiven. The group ended up primarily as a studio project. Its recordings were produced by Tiven along with former Big Star member Chris Bell, who ...

- Won Disc of the Year for ''Heavenly Spheres''. * 2000 Juno Award - Nominated «Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance» for ''Heavenly Spheres''. * 2006 Prix Opus - Nominated Disc of the Year for ''Marc-Antoine Charpentier''. * 2007 Prix Opus - Nominated Disc of the Year for ''Rise, O my soul''. * 2008 Prix Opus - Won Concert of the Year for ''Jerusalem des terres froides''. * 2010 Prix Opus - Won Concert of the Year for ''Le Faste de la France''. * 2012 Prix Opus - Won Disc of the Year for ''Lagrime de San Pietro''. * 2015 Juno Award - Nominated «Classical Album of the Year: Vocal or Choral Performance» for ''Terra Tremuit''. * 2017 Prix Opus - Nominated Concert of the Year for ''Desires of the Soul''.

References

External links

Official Website of the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal
{{DEFAULTSORT:Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montreal Canadian choirs Félix Award winners Musical groups established in 1974 Musical groups from Montreal Early music choirs 1974 establishments in Quebec