A concert that resonates with sounds and images

Are you a music lover seeking a one-of-a-kind experience? If so, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal has just the concert you are looking for, on October 28 at the Maison symphonique. It is part of the city’s 375^th anniversary celebrations: “Montreal, the City of 100 Bell Towers.”

We designed this unique event to take you on a fascinating journey through exclusive images of Montreal’s places of worship, to the inspiring and grandiose sound of the Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique.

At the console of our magnificent instrument, we will feature a formidable trio of organists. Rachel Laurin (from Quebec) and Michel Bouvard (from France) will all give their first-ever performances on the OSM organ with and Patrick Wedd (a Montrealer originally from Ontario), who will be coming back after his 2014 concert at the Maison symphonique. Together, they will be taking turns at the keyboards to breathe life into an evening infused with history and lending a mythical quality to the screenings.

The three artists will also bear metaphorical witness to the contributions of Quebec, Canadian, and French communities to Montreal’s religious heritage. A feast for the ears, eyes, and soul!

To each piece its own ambiance

In order to create a truly cohesive concert, the OSM selected the program in close collaboration with the three featured organists, ensuring musical connections to Montreal, its churches, and its 100 bell towers. To fully round out the experience, the concert is a balanced array of old and new music, representing the span of time over which Montreal’s churches were built.

From one piece, one performer, and one image to the next, listeners are conveyed from bell tower to bell tower, like a succession of worlds to discover with heart and soul. Emotion, spirituality, memory, aesthetics, grandeur… an endless spectrum of captivating ambiances will light up the Maison symphonique for this special evening of organ music. The concert is sure to rekindle those who have already succumbed to the rich and unique sound of the great organ.

Art that awakens your senses…

In order to give the event unparalleled visual dimension, we commissioned photographer Antoine Saito to develop his own perspective on Montreal’s heritage of religious architecture, in conjunction with the music for this concert. He toured the city’s most beautiful places of worship to create images that bring sculptures, stained-glass windows, and other distinctive features into full focus.

Saito’s remarkable vision, combined with the sound of the organ, brings Montreal’s religious heritage to life in an unprecedented way. The audience will be profoundly touched by this fusion of art forms that open or re-open the senses to the superb architectural details of landmarks such as Saint Joseph’s Oratory, Notre-Dame Basilica, Saint-Jacques and Christ Church Cathedrals, as well as many others.

In a fitting celebration of Montreal, the city of 100 bell towers, the OSM is intent on providing an exclusive entertainment experience that will echo in the audience’s hearts and minds for years to come.

The concert Montreal, the city with the 100 bell towers will be presented at the Maison symphonique de Montréal on Saturday, October 28 at 8 pm.