Artistic Director Xavier Brossard-Ménard and his Montréal-based choral ensemble Les Rugissants will be touring Ontario this summer with a program titled Voices of Ukraine. Les Rugissants, a professional choir, will present an a cappella concert for 12 voices in a program that celebrates Ukrainian musical heritage.
The music includes everything from folk songs to sacred songs to traditional repertoire. It offers a look at Ukrainian musical culture as it has developed over the centuries.
Each concert takes its spatial dimensions into account, and the singers will be positioned throughout the performance space. At times they will fully surround the audience, and the sound will travel through the architecture of each venue, becoming part of the music.
The performances also incorporate context and history in the form of commentary that adds educational elements to the artistic experience.
Performances
The performances include three Toronto dates, one of them free, along with appearances at the Collingwood Music Festival, One World Music Festival, and Stratford Summer Music. Find details at the links below.
- Thursday, July 16 | 7:00 p.m. | Collingwood Music Festival — Collingwood, ON
- Friday, July 17 | 7:00 p.m. | One World Music Festival — Midland, ON
- Saturday, July 18 | 4:00 p.m. | Stratford Summer Music — Stratford, ON
- Sunday, July 19 | 3:00 p.m. | Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Holy Protection of
the Mother of God (Free will offering) — Toronto, ON - Sunday, July 19 | 7:30 p.m. | Old Mill Toronto – Guildhall Room (Free will offering)
— Toronto, ON - Monday, July 20 | 10:30 AM | Ukrainian Canadian Care Centre (Free and open to
residents and the general public) — Toronto, ON
Xavier Brossard-Ménard: The Interview
Blending music with the specific venue is not a new concept for Brossard-Ménard or the choir.
“It’s interesting,” Xavier says, “we have this series around architecture and music in Montréal, it’s called ARCHES.
Their ARCHES concert series has a dual goal — the music, of course, along with discovery of architectural heritage through a guided tour. The performances offer the results of that acoustic encounter. It includes video along with the live music, and so far, via architecture, Les Rugissants has explored the city’s Italian, Ukrainian, and Armenian communities through the series.
The timing may seem deliberate, but it was more a matter of chance. “Interestingly enough, we decided to do this program before the war,” he explains.
Since then, of course, the Russian invasion of Ukraine has lended a poignancy to the program. After the Ukrainian ARCHES concert, and about a year after the war began, Montréal’s Ukrainian community approached Les Rugissants with the idea of presenting Ukrainian music. “I really want this for the Ukrainian [community] in music,” he says.
The Ontario tour came about via connections Brossard-Ménard has made over the years, including serving as the assistant to Boris Brott at the Brott Festival in 2020/21.
“I started making some artistic and professional relationships with festivals,” he explains. That includes the Collingwood Music Festival.
Practical considerations also entered into the mix. “It’s also light, we come with 12 singers. It’s a cappella.”
An Immersive Experience
“What’s interesting with this program in Montréal, we do a part of the concert that is immersive,” Xavier says. They use the specific architecture of each venue to create that effect.
“We really change the format of the performance to create a new bond,” he says. That includes the singers as well as the audience — and the venue. “It changes the point of view, the way we hear things.”
The tour takes them to a variety of locations. “We will be in some Ukrainian spaces,” he points out. That includes two of the Toronto dates. “Generally speaking, even if we’re not in a Ukrainian space, we try to use the space in a [unique] way,” he adds.
“Changing the experience of the concert is really the mandate of the company,” Xavier explains. “How can we provide — I don’t like to use the term classical music — I use concert music.”
He looks to make each concert relevant to a contemporary audience.
Les Rugissants perform Slava by Lessia Dytchko as part of their ARCHES: Présence ukrainienne series:
The Program
“The program is composed of sacred music, classical music — meaning music that is composed by professional composers over the ages — and folk music, [as] arranged by composers. We have music that spans from the 18th century to the early 2000s.”
For the Ukrainian concert, he’s looking to offer a kind of context for Ukrainian culture.
“We try to have a larger time span. What is the specificity of Ukrainian culture? Also, meaning that the Ukrainian culture is not Russian culture.”
The music and conversation is designed to evoke a response in listeners. “The series is also about empathy and curiosity,” he says. “To meet the culture. It’s also the idea about people who are making a real effort to [explore] the culture of the other.”
He emphasizes that cultural consultants were part of the process of putting the music together. “It’s not appropriation,” Brossard-Ménard says.
Making the distinction between Russian and Ukrainian composers isn’t an entirely black and white process, he notes. “Obviously a lot of Ukrainian composers, especially in the 18th and 19th century, were traveling back and forth between Russia and Ukraine,” he says. “This is like a whole world of subtlety.”
Les Rugissants has performed the music extensively in Montréal, including at City Hall, and festivals, among other places.
“We’re really glad to be able to tour and bring this project to Ontario.”
Making Connections
Xavier believes touring is important in a country like Canada. “There are very few possibilities to connect,” he says, “cities are so far.”
The communities the choir has connected with so far have been very supportive, as well as appreciative, of their efforts. “We put so much energy and research into these projects that we would really love to be able to bring them to more communities in Canada.”
Music creates links. “The music is really beautiful…and fun. It’s engaging, spiritual, but also bouncy folk music,” he explains.
The educational component also builds bridges. “I also speak during the concerts. I speak about the music.” Audience members shouldn’t expect a dull, dry, lecture, though. “I’m a rather humouristic person.”
Along with the time and effort that goes into creating the programs, repeating it over time adds layers of understanding. “Every time we repeat a program we try to focus on a different aspect. It’s a bit like a stew — after a few days, the flavour are a bit more blended,” he says.
“The singers are really fantastic,” Xavier adds. “They’re very engaged. They feel like this program is […] relevant.” Some have personal ties to Ukrainian culture. “The series, generally speaking, there is more of a bond between the singers and the public.” It’s about evoking emotions, not just talking about facts.
“There is this idea of protecting a culture that is under a threat.”
Les Rugissants perform Le rêve by Kyrylo Stetsenko as part of their ARCHES: Présence ukrainienne series:
Ukrainian Music
“I find Ukrainian music to be very colourful,” he says. “There is really a wide variety of expression, and situations as well.”
The folk music talks about situations from daily life. “There is really a craft in how those situations are depicted,” he says. “It’s really like icons,” he adds. “I think there’s a certain connection between how the Ukrainian culture sees painting and music.” He mentions the use of colours and light to create unique effects.
From a musical perspective, there are distinctive features. “The Ukrainian folk music is 7/8, 5/8 with lots of syncopations, with sounds that are really […] rustic,” Brossard-Ménard says. “I find sometimes the choral world is obsessed with beauty — and beauty is nice but it doesn’t tell a good story.” For that, you need variety, layers, rhythms.
“Ukrainian music is I think like that.”
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