Favourite of Jennifer Bourdages - Piano and Celesta of the OM

The coup de coeur of Jennifer Bourdages

Johannes Brahms’ Variations on a Theme of Haydn

My first encounter with the work…
This is a work I first discovered in its version for two pianos, which ws actually written before the orchestral version. I was a student at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and my friend Yannick Nézet-Séguin and I had formed the En Blanc et Noir piano duo. We were both students in Anisia Campos’s piano class and had worked on several pieces for piano four hands and two pianos four hands. These Brahms Variations were among them and I loved playing them. It was only later that I heard the orchestral version, which I enjoyed just as much. And a few years later, I had the privilege of seeing my friend conduct this wonderful work. Back when we played the piece together, little did I know that Yannick would one day become a conductor appreciated and recognized around the world.

My favourite passage
The opening theme is really majestic. I love it. Each of the variations has its own charm and effect but I admit to having a soft spot for the seventh. The tempo indication “grazioso” accurately describes the (in my humble opinion) reassuring ambiance of this great music.

My favourite recording
The one with Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

Holder of a prize with high honours in piano (1997), Jennifer Bourdages studied at the Conservatoire de Musique de Rimouski in the class of Sister Sœur Pauline Charron and in Montreal with Anisia Campos. A prize winner of the Canadian Music Competition, she also completed a two-year internship with the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal.

An active musician, Jennifer takes part in many concerts, including some as a duo with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, mainly in Bourgie Hall at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Chapelle historique du Bon Pasteur, as part of the Concerts des Îles and Pro Musica’s Topaze series as well as for the Société pour les arts en milieux de santé (SAMS). She devotes time to teaching, accompanying and sitting on juries and is a member of the board of the directors of the Conseil des arts de Montréal.

For the Orchestre Métropolitain, Jennifer Bourdages combines the duties of Head of Government Relations and Artistic Development with those of Personnel Manager for the Chœur Métropolitain. She is also the Orchestre’s pianist.

Jennifer is also responsable for Government Relations and Artistic Development Head & Personnel Manager – Chœur Métropolitain

Jennifer Bourdages

Brahms: Variations On A Theme By Haydn, Op. 56a

Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn, Op. 56a: 8. Variation VII. Grazioso