Next year will mark Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s 25th season as the OM’s Artistic Director. A quarter-century of togetherness, emotions and music! The 2024–25 season, Here to Play , will be full of great celebrations, and everyone is invited!
The season will open with a majestic concert featuring Bruckner ’s 9th and final symphony and Te Deum , with four internationally renowned soloists and the Chœur Métropolitain . The OM and Yannick Nézet-Séguin—renowned for interpreting Bruckner’s works, having recorded the entirety of the composer’s symphonies—will honour his 200th birthday with a vibrant tribute. In keeping with OM tradition, the first notes of the season will be those of a First Nations composer. This year’s premiere is by Andrew Balfour, a Cree orchestra l and choral conductor nominated for a 2023 Juno.
The celebration will continue with our Beethoven Marathon : all nine of the composer’s symphonies will be performed in four concerts over three days. Yannick Nézet-Séguin will deliver his vision of the bold classics that continue to dazzle audiences 250 years later. It’s sure to be a marathon to remember!
Between tradition and innovation
Some of our must-see concerts will be back too. We’re looking forward to this year’s major Holiday Melodies concert, bringing together Yannick Nézet-Séguin and Kim Richardson, Mélissa Bédard and the Taurey Butler jazz trio. We’ll also perform Handel’s Messiah at the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal with an all-Canadian lineup.
But in keeping with the OM’s signature style, this year’s programming will showcase innovation and originality! That’s where Eternal Orlando comes in. In collaboration with TNM and directed by the esteemed Lorraine Pintal , this production blends symphonic music and theatre, inspired by Virginia Woolf’s renowned novel Orlando . The work follows the story of an eternally young character—sometimes a man, sometimes a woman—throughout the centuries. The musical program transports the audience from Handel in the court of Queen Elizabeth I to the premiere of a Nathalie Joachim cello concerto by the exceptional Seth Parker Woods. The rest of the season will have more discoveries in store, like the premiere of a bassoon concerto by Canadian Airat Ichmouratov and performed by bassoonist Michel Bettez, a viola concerto by Julia Adolphe and an overture by Emilie Mayer, a great female composer from the 19th century.
New talent will also be in the spotlight. With works by young composers incorporated into the Beethoven Marathon, Orchestral Conducting Academy members on the podium and The Little Prince youth concert featuring music composed by Éric Champagne, the OM, more than ever, is a springboard for budding musicians and audience members from Quebec.
Invitations and great voyage
To celebrate in style, we’ve invited a host of big-name guests. This includes the conductors like the great French Louis Langrée, Ukrainian Oksana Lyniv, the dynamic Joana Carneiro, Baroque specialist Fabio Biondi, young conductor Thomas Le Duc-Moreau and our former artistic partner Nicolas Ellis. We’ll also welcome Canadian soloists Bryan Cheng, Kerson Leong and Marina Thibeault, pianist and composer Gabriela Montero, Ukrainian violinist Valeriy Sokolov and, of course, our artist-in-residence, the Mozart aficionado Christian Blackshaw… Everyone will join the celebration!
And what better way to ring in 25 years than a grand voyage ? The season will close with a bang with the Adventure Awaits concert, a program that we’ll then perform in many European cultural capitals on our June 2025 tour. One of our stops will be the Philharmonie de Paris for Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day on June 24. The stellar program will feature Ravel’s La valse , Barbara Assiginaak’s Eko- Bmijwang (As long in time as the river flows), and Saint-Saëns’s Piano Concerto No. 2. performed by Alexandre Kantorow , as well as Tchaikovsky’s “ Pathétique ” symphony, which was on the program for Yannick Nézet-Séguin’s debut as the OM’s Artistic
The strength of connection
Such a long-standing union between a conductor and his orchestra is invaluable—on the human and musical levels.
“We now know each other so well that when we play music together, I feel as though we form a whole and that our hearts beat as one. This profound relationship brings us to deliver performances beyond what we could deliver as individual artists.
But what most unites us is the joy we feel when we play together. Play. Because, after all, we’re Here to Play. There’s no better word to describe what we do. Even though making music requires discipline, perseverance, and a lot of hard work, it should always be joyful. And when we’re in such good company with you, it is!”
– Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor
And because new relationships are just as important as old ones, we’ve renewed Naomi Woo’s contract as the OM’s Artistic Partner. After taking part in the Orchestral Conducting Academy, her first year as artistic partner and joining us on major projects like our US tour and the Symphony of Hearts , Naomi is one of the family.
And the orchestra’s family often includes the Chœur Métropolitain. For their annual concert, accompanied by some of the OM’s musicians, the Chœur will perform the Sacred Gilles Vigneault concert. We’ll perform the great Québécois songwriter’s Grand-Messe and Argentinian Ariel Ramirez’s Misa Criolla , two sacred works that translate the unique spirit of a people into music.
An orchestra for Montrealers
Reaching Montrealers where they live is in the OM’s DNA. That’s why we’ll be holding a number of concerts in the boroughs once again this season. Verdun, Pierrefonds-Roxboro, Pointe-Claire, Mercier – Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Ahuntsic-Cartierville, Saint-Léonard, Saint-Laurent, Rivière-des-Prairies – Pointe-aux-Trembles, Rosemont-La-Petite-Patrie… The OM will bring the music to Montrealers with 15 concerts across the island, thanks to the support of the Conseil des Arts de Montréal’s Touring Program.
A concert for every taste
At the Orchestre Métropolitain, we believe that everyone can love symphonic music. You just need to find your style! That’s why we’ve created the symphonic personality quiz. In a few fun questions, you can figure out which concerts you’ll enjoy the most. Whether you’re curious, peaceful, passionate timeless or energetic, you can find three concerts for you.
We’ve created subscription packages for each of these personalities, and they’ll be on sale starting April 29!
Take the symphonic personality quiz (in French only) : https://orchestremetropolitain.com/fr/les-personnalites-symphoniques/
Here to Play in brief:
8 programs conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, including a Beethoven Marathon with all of the composer’s symphonies 3 female guest conductors (out of 7) 7 premieres 2 theatre projects: Eternal Orlando and The Little Prince 15 concerts in the boroughs with the CAM Touring Program 6 chamber music concerts at Bourgie Hall
The subscription renewal period starts today. Current subscribers have until April 29 to keep their seats.
Symphonic personality and Beethoven Marathon subscription packages will be available on April 29. As of this date, we’ll also start processing new subscription requests.
Single tickets for Holiday Melodies and Handel’s Messiah are now on sale. Other concert tickets will go on sale on June 14.
For more about the 2024–25 season:
SEASON 24-25 Brochure
To subscribe
Single tickets on sale starting June 2024, 14.
