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Founded in 1987, the Baroque music society Les Idées heureuses produces an annual series of concerts, commented live by its founder and director, harpsichordist Geneviève Soly. Les Idées heureuses also organises sessions of master-classes, symposia, French Baroque Dance performances, the Journées du clavecin and the Montreal International Harpsichord Competition.
In May of 1997, Les Idées heureuses produced the single edition of the International Bach Festival, which comprised a series of ten concerts, five lectures and a harpsichord competition. This grand-scale event, recognised for the excellence of its artistic programming, was received with enthusiasm by the musical milieu and awarded a Prix Opus de “l’Événement de l’année 1997” by the Conseil québécois de la musique. The same Bach Festival was awarded the 1997 Grand Prize by the Montreal Urban Community Arts Council.
Since its foundation, Les Idées heureuses has produced some fifty musical events in the course of its regular seasons, and presented more than a hundred complementary concerts. During its 12th season in 1998-1999, the society toured with thirteen performances of its concert “Bach intime” in the context of the Montreal Urban Community Arts Council’s program “Jouer dans l’Ile.” It has undertaken another tour of thirty concerts in the province of Quebec in 1999-2000, produced by the Jeunesses Musicales of Canada.
The members of l’Ensemble des Idées heureuses number approximately twenty and play as a chamber music group. They adhere to historically authentic performance practice and present concerts from the Baroque repertory of the 17th and 18th centuries on historical instruments, conforming to the particular aesthetics of these periods.
Artistic Director: Geneviève Soly. |
