François Dompierre, Idiot of the Conservatory

It is not me who says this, but François himself. He admitted this during the award ceremony presented to him on Friday evening at the Maison Symphonique.

Publicly admitting that you have been lazy, undisciplined, and rebellious all your life is not embarrassing when you have the music of sixty films and musicals, 200 songs, and dozens of songs behind you. Chants Advertisements, not to mention 24 Preludes for Piano and a few concertos.

If Dompierre was the bad student he claimed to be, it was because it was not easy for him to choose his path. An avid walker and curious about areas neglected by ordinary tourists, he could have become a tour guide. It was also often for small groups of friends. A tireless raconteur and good conversationalist, Dompierre was at the heart of hundreds of hours of radio. He's also crazy about cooking, spending as much time in front of the stove as he does at the piano. While his dishes boil, he writes. We are indebted to him for his conduct. Multiple life storyAnd Monique Lerac, The novel of a lifetime.

this Jack of all trades Our culture turned 80 last year, and so did the Conservatoire des Music ets Dramatic Arts of Quebec. Therefore, we celebrated these two anniversaries with a big concert. Monique Leroux, president of the conservatory and former executive director of the Desjardins movement (who during her music studies was an imitator of the famous pianist Louis Lortie), opened the evening by recalling Dompierre's career and the creation of the conservatory, this unique conservatory. A creation of its kind which we owe to the initiative of the composer and conductor Wilfried Pelletier.

Happy coincidence

On this occasion, conductor Jean-Marie Zitouni did not choose an easy program for the orchestra and choir of the great conservatory. after Nocturnal by Debussy and before processing the sequel Romeo and Juliet By Prokofiev After the intermission, the orchestra and the young pianist Emmanuel Laforest performed the difficult concerto almost flawlessly.^sNo. 1 for piano by the late Jacques Hito, whose works are not played enough. It is a happy coincidence that the Orchestra of the National Center of Arts and the Quebec Symphony Orchestra will perform his last concert, Freedom anthemIn Quebec on February 28, then in Toronto and Ottawa in March.

We played to the end under the watchful eye of François Dompierre, whom Zitouni had brought to the stage. MusimageIt is a sequel that addresses many of the themes he wrote for cinema. The celebration of the composer is not over yet. It will culminate in a Requiem he has been working on for months that will be created by the Philharmonic Orchestra and the Chour des Mélomanes on June 8 at the Maison Symphonique and, the following day, at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec. This Mass will be in good company because we will also be performing Gabriel Fauré's Mass. Will François do the same as Fauré? After his Mass, the latter did not stop composing. Lead by example, dear François!

Top secret orchestra

The National Jazz Orchestra created by Jacques Lorrain performs regularly, but very discreetly, at the Cinquième Hall on the Place des Arts. On Saturday evening, pianist and composer Marianne Trudel presented her suite sources With guitarist Etienne LaFrance, percussionist Patrick Graham and the violinists of the band Echo. Added to this is the moving work to focus By Stan Getz Performed by the tireless saxophonist Yannick Rieu. A concert worthy of the Wilfried Pelletier Hall.