Summit - Orchestre Métropolitain - Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Dates and Locations Date Location Choose

Saturday
September 16th
7:30 PM

Maison Symphonique de Montréal

Past

Symphonic personalities

Curious

Program

Cris Derksen

Controlled Burn (World Premiere – Commissioned by the OM)
Rachmaninoff

Piano Concerto No. 2
Sibelius

Symphony No. 2

Media

Bruce Liu made history at the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition for being the first Canadian to be awarded First Prize. Now he’s returning home to tackle more spirited repertoire: Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

The first notes of the season will be from composer Cris Derksen. In its world premiere, Derksen’s piece creates a space where classical and electronic music encounter the Cree Nation worldview. Under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the OM will continue its Sibelius symphonic cycle with Symphony No. 2—a masterpiece with tempestuous ambiance, in the spirit of Finnish resistance and dramatic climes.

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Pre-concert Experience

Works

Cris Derksen

Controlled Burn (World Premiere – Commissioned by the OM)

While raging forest fires made headlines all summer and will likely increase in the coming years due to climate change, Cree composer Cris Derksen’s work is about controlled burns, a traditional Indigenous practice used to manage wildfires. This practice involves burning certain parts of the forest in the spring, before temperatures rise and while the ground is still wet, to keep flames from burning out of control. Indigenous peoples determine where to intervene based on centuries of observation. By clearing out the twigs, dead trees and pine needles covering the forest floor, they protect their land and help preserve the ecosystem. As a result, flames are transformed from threat to tool—two aspects of fire that Cris Derksen explores in her work.

Suggested Gallimard readings to enhance your experience:

Chauffer le dehors, Marie-Andrée Gill, La Peuplade

Chemin d'en-haut, J.-P Chabot, Le Quartanier

Rachmaninoff

1873 – 1943

Piano Concerto No. 2

Piano Concerto No. 2 was written at a turning point in Rachmaninoff’s career. Three years before writing the piece, in 1897, the composer went through a severe depressive episode following the resounding failure of his first symphony in Saint Petersburg. Willing to do anything to overcome it, he consulted Nikolai Dahl, a neurologist and music lover, who used hypnotherapy to encourage him to move past his writer’s block.

“You will begin to write a concerto. You will work with great facility. The concerto will be of excellent quality.” These are the phrases the doctor repeated to his patient during their hypnotherapy sessions, which helped Rachmaninoff put pen back to paper. He found a new lust for life—and composing—entering into a period of great creativity. He went on to write the Sonata for Cello and Piano in G Minor, Spring and 12 Romances for voice and piano. And of course, his second piano concerto, dedicated to Dr. Nikolai Dahl, for getting him out of his slump.

A piano virtuoso, Rachmaninoff was known for his dexterity and large hand span—which could extend an octave and a half—and he performed some of his own piano compositions. We can hear the extent of his talent thanks to a few precious recordings, including one of his second concerto from 1929.

At the 1901 premiere, Rachmaninoff made light work of his technically demanding score, dazzling the public with his performance. The concerto then went on to tour Europe, most often conducted by the composer’s cousin, Alexander Siloti, who helped Rachmaninoff financially while he completed the composition. As the piece was met with success across the Atlantic, the composer’s financial difficulties were at last behind him. During his 1909–1910 tour, Rachmaninoff performed his concerto many times, including 10 times with the Boston Symphony Orchestra alone!

Sibelius

1865 – 1957

Symphony No. 2

Premiered in 1902, one year after Rachmaninoff’s concerto, Sibelius’s Symphony No. 2 was quick to become associated with Finland’s independence movement. At the time, the country was part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Finland. Just two years prior, at the 1900 Paris Exposition, Sibelius performed Finlandia, the famous symphonic poem strongly tied to the nationalist movement amid the Tsarist repression of Finnish culture.

While many of Sibelius’s works had a clear patriotic message, the motivations behind the composition of the second symphony are still unknown. Written shortly after his daughter Kirsti died of typhus, the composer said that the piece was “a confession of the soul.” Therefore, it’s possible that the work was more personal. But like all of Sibelius’s compositions, the piece immediately transports the listener to the Finnish countryside from the opening notes.

Sibelius was able to complete the symphony thanks to the help and encouragement of a trusted supporter, Baron Axel Carpelan. He firmly believed in the Finnish composer’s future and the power of his music. Although the baron was penniless, he secretly promoted Sibelius’s work to a donor, who funded the composer’s trip to Italy, where he could hone his craft and find inspiration. He began writing the symphony in Italy and completed it upon his return to Finland. The piece was dedicated to his loyal patron, Baron Carpelan.

The first movement opens with a repeated ascending motif, creating the effect of symphonic expansion and serving as the foundation for a theme developed throughout the symphony.

The second movement starts on tiptoes, with pizzicato in the cellos and a melancholic theme resonating from the bassoons. The music slowly takes a dramatic turn, creating a sense of urgency and gravity through clamour in the brass and timpani.

The third movement is tense and fast, with a slower lyrical oboe solo in the middle. It leads into the fourth movement without interruption, where the orchestra’s sound swells in the style of Tchaikovsky.

This is the culmination of the ascending theme, which was in its early stages in the first movement. The intensity comes down in an instant, with echoes of melodic fragments from earlier in the piece, before gradually reemerging to reach passionate new heights. The music swells and surges like waves up to the grand finale.

Conductor & Soloists

Yannick Nézet-Séguin

Conductor

Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000, to which he committed himself “for life” in 2019, Yannick Nézet-Séguin became, in September 2018, the third Music Director of the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in New York. Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra since 2012, he became its Artistic and Music Director in 2023 and renewed his contract until 2030. He is Honorary Conductor of the Rotterdams Philharmonisch Orkest, where he was Music Director from 2008 to 2018, and is also an Honorary Member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe.

Yannick works with several prestigious orchestras and maintains a more special relationship with the Berlin and Vienna Philharmonics Orchestras, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, the Chamber Orchestra of Europe and the London Philharmonic Orchestra, where he was principal guest conductor from 2008 to 2014. He has participated several times in the BBC Proms as well as in many festivals in Europe including those of Edinburgh, Lucerne, Salzburg and Grafenegg (Vienna). He was chosen to conduct the prestigious Vienna New Year’s Concert 2026. In North America, he regularly participates in the Lanaudière, Vail and Saratoga festivals as well as the Domaine Forget (Charlevoix). With the Philadelphia Orchestra and with the musicians of the MET Orchestra, he performs regularly at Carnegie Hall where he was an “Artist in Perspective” in 2019-2020. He also gives master classes, notably in two of the most renowned institutions, the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and the Julliard School in New York. In Quebec, he directs an academy for young conductors linked to the Orchestre Métropolitain, in close collaboration with the Académie internationale du Domaine Forget.

He continues a long-term collaboration with the Festival La Capitale d’été in Baden Baden, where he conducts several orchestras in turn, including the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, thus giving rise to numerous concerts and opera recordings, notably the complete Beethoven symphonies and the Brahms cycle. He regularly conducts several orchestras during American, Asian or European tours. In November 2017, he conducted the Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal on its very first European tour, which was a huge success, and will repeat the experience in June 2025, taking them to Brussels (Bozar), Paris (Philharmonie), Vienna (Wiener Konzerthaus), Hamburg (Elbphilharmonie) and Baden Baden (Festspielhaus). In the meantime, he has completed two very successful North American tours with the OM, taking them to Carnegie Hall, among others. A remarkable opera conductor, he is acclaimed in the most renowned houses and venues. He has also contributed to the production of two films as a conducting consultant: Maestro (2022), an American film by Bradley Cooper recounting the life of Leonard Bernstein, and Les Jours heureux (2023), a Quebec film by Chloé Robichaud dealing with the difficulties of a young conductor. Yannick records exclusively for Deutsche Grammophon, while continuing his role in OM’s collaboration with ATMA Classique.

His honours include five Grammy Awards: Best Orchestral Performance for his performance of Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3 with the Philadelphia Orchestra (2023); Best Opera Recording for Terence Blanchard’s Fire Shut Up in My Bones (2023) and Champion (2024), both at the MET; Best Classical Solo Vocal Album with renowned soprano Renée Flemming for Voice of Nature – Anthropocene (2023); and most recently, Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media for Maestro, with the London Symphony Orchestra (2025). Yannick Nézet-Séguin also holds eight honorary doctorates (Université du Québec à Montréal, 2011; Curtis Institute of Philadelphia, 2014; Rider University of Princeton, 2015; McGill University (Montreal), 2017; Université de Montréal, 2017; University of Pennsylvania, 2018; Université Laval, 2021; Drexel University in Philadelphia, 2023); he is also a Companion of the Order of Canada (2012), Companion of Arts and Letters of Quebec (2015), Officer of the National Order of Quebec (2015), Officer of the Order of Montreal (2017), Honorary Member of the Royal Conservatory of Music (2020) and Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters of the French Republic (2021).

Bruce Liu

Piano

Bruce Liu attracted worldwide attention when he won first prize at the 18th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw in 2021.

Following this success, the young pianist immediately embarked on a world tour that took him to the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées (Paris), the Konzerthaus (Vienna), BOZAR (Brussels), Tokyo Opera City, Sala São Paulo and the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonia Orchestra. He also tours the USA with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, and performs with the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg, the Polish Radio National Symphony Orchestra, the NHK Symphony Orchestra and the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra. Major performances include those with the Cleveland Orchestra and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, as well as a North American tour with China’s NCPA Orchestra.

Upcoming engagements include a debut with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a European tour with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Musikverein with the Vienna Symphony Orchestra, and appearances at festivals such as La Roque d’Anthéron, Klavier-Festival Ruhr, Rheingau, Edinburgh, Chopin and His Europe, Duszniki, and Gstaad Menuhin.

Recording exclusively on the Deutsche Grammophon label, her debut album, featuring her winning performances at the Chopin Competition, won a Fryderyk Award after receiving international recognition, including Gramophone Magazine’s Critics’ Choice and Editor’s Choice. The latter also ranked it among its list of Best Classical Albums of 2021.

“What we all have in common is our difference,” says the young pianist. Born in Paris of Chinese parents, Bruce Liu grew up in Montreal. His life has been steeped in cultural diversity, which has shaped his differences in attitude, personality and character. He draws on various sources of inspiration to develop his art: European refinement, age-old Chinese tradition, North American dynamism and openness. Following his artistic path with optimism and a smile, his teachers include Richard Raymond and Dang Thai Son.

Cris Derksen

Composer and cellist

JUNO-nominated Cris Derksen is an Internationally respected Indigenous cellist and composer. In a world where almost everything — people, music, cultures — are labelled and slotted into simple categories, Cris Derksen represents a challenge.

Originally from Northern Alberta, she comes from a line of chiefs from NorthTall Cree Reserve on her father’s side and a line of strong Mennonite homesteaders on her mother’s. Derksen braids the traditional and contemporary, weaving her classical background and her Indigenous ancestry together with new school electronics to create genre-defying music.

As a composer, Derksen has a foot in many worlds. Her, 2020 compositions include: Napi and the Rocks, a symphonic story commissioned by the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra; Same Wave, an 8-part choral piece, commissioned by Camerata Nova Choir; The Triumph of the Euro-Christ, an 8– part choral piece commissioned by the Art Gallery of Ontario. In 2019, compositions include: Maada’ookii Songlines, a mass choral piece for 250 singers commissioned by Luminato Festival;. Rebellion, a short symphonic piece commissioned by the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra; Iron Peggy,a theatre piece commissioned by the Vancouver Children’s Festival; and a new performance art piece commissioned by the National Art Gallery of Canada, Ikumagiialit. In 2018, works and recognitions include the DORA Award for Best Sound Design, Theatre; Kiinalik: These Sharp Tools;, TIFF premiere Biidaaban (The Dawn Comes), a short animation film by Amanda Strong; the Ka:hawai Dance Company production BloodTides;, Kamloopa, a theatre production; the 2018 Banff Centre for the Arts String Quartet Residency White Mans Cattle aAnd the Wood Quintet International 5 bucks per head.

As a performer, Derksen appears as a soloist nationally and internationally with some of Canada’s finest artists, including; Tanya Tagaq, Buffy Sainte– Marie, Naomi Klein, and Leanne Simpson, to name a few. Recent destinations include Hong Kong, Australia, Mongolia, Sweden, and many parts of Canada, the place Derksen refers to as home.

Musicians

FIRST VIOLINS

Yukari Cousineau, Principal

Oleg Larshin, Associate Principal

Johanne Morin, Assistant Principal

Alexander Lozowski

Ryan Truby

Monica Duschênes

Florence Mallette

Carolyn Klause

Ariane Bresse

Amélie Benoit Bastien

Marie-Claire Cousineau

Julien Oberson

Mary-Elizabeth Brown

Yubin Kim

SECOND VIOLINS

Nancy Ricard, Principal

Dominic Guilbault, Associate Principal

Lucie Ménard, Assistant Principal

Lizann Gervais

Claudio Ricignuolo

Sylvie Harvey

Céline Arcand

Helga Dathe

Daniel Godin

Isabelle Bélanger-Southey

Jean Ai Seow

Flavie Gagnon

VIOLAS

Elvira Misbakhova, Principal

Pierre Tourville, Associate Principal

Brian Bacon, Assistant Principal

Julie Dupras

Gérald Daigle

Suzanne Careau

Élisa Boudreau

François Vallières

Camille Mireault-Lalancette

Xavier Lepage-Brault

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