Conductor Francis Choinière, winner of the 2023-2024 Goyer Mécénat Musica Prize, will hand over the leadership of the Montreal FILMharmonic Orchestra for the film concert series to Maestro George Daugherty Bugs Bunny in the symphony orchestra which will come to Quebec and Montreal this week.
Viewers can find the heroes of Looney Tunes, Beep Beep and the Coyote, Sylvester and Tweety Bird, Taz, the Tasmanian Devil and Speedy Gonzales in more than fifteen short films presented on a giant screen and punctuated by a repertoire of classical and entertainment Ensemble, mainly from Quebec, with 64 musicians.
“George Daugherty, who created the series, has been making Bugs Bunny for over 30 years. He really is the expert. He will also guide the audience through the story and musical decisions during the concert,” described the chief conductor and co-artistic director of the FILMharmonique Orchestra, Francis Choinière, also co-founder and president of Productions GFN and co-founder of the Philharmonie Orchestra. and Choir of Music Lovers (OPCM).
At just 26 years old, Francis Choinière already has almost 10 years of experience. In 2020, he was also named one of CBC's 30 Canadian classical musicians under 30 to watch.
Share classical music from popular films
Since its founding in 2015 by Denis Chabot, the FILMharmonique Orchestra has presented film concerts to sold-out audiences every year in the Wilfrid Pelletier Hall, particularly with the titles Harry Potter, Star Wars, The Godfather, Titanic or even The Lord of the World Rings brought together 250 musicians on stage.
“With GFN and FILMharmonique we took an important place that wasn't really in the scene, namely the film and cinema concert aspect. There was a little bit, but it wasn't really something that happened with the two major orchestras in Montreal,” emphasized the co-artistic director and chief conductor.
“For me as a conductor, soundtracks are the music of today. There are many, like John Williams [Maman j’ai raté l’avion, Indiana Jones, Harry Potter] and Howard Shore [Le Seigneur des anneaux, Le Hobbit], who were inspired by the tradition of classical music. They have this training and use large orchestras for their film,” argued Mr. Choinière.
“When you hear the music in the foreground, you realize all the work that went into creating strong emotions with the image. We recognize it by listening to a film, but there are so many mixes, dialogues or special effects that the music is obscured by the film,” he continued, adding that the bigger the audience, the more interested it is Resonance is working among people.
Francis Choinière, who completed his master's degree in conducting at McGill University with Alexis Hauser, will spend part of the new year on the road with the FILMharmonique Orchestra in Canada and the United States; a first for the Quebec orchestra. “We want to develop this image and demonstrate internationally the height of Quebec's artistic level,” said Mr. Choinière, who is increasingly establishing himself in the world of classical music.
“I get asked a few fewer questions today than I did when I was 18 and conducting an orchestra. People said to me, “Isn’t he a little young?” [rires] Now that you've been doing your job for almost 10 years, you're a little less scrutinized,” the chef admitted.
Bugs Bunny of the Symphony Orchestra will be at the Grand Théâtre de Québec on January 6th and at the Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier at Place des Arts on January 12th and 13th.
The FILMharmonique Orchestra will complete its series of John Williams tribute concerts in May and then begin a tour of its new Beatles tribute show in September.
More details here.