Presenter
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
199, Queen-Victoria Blvd, Sherbrooke (Québec) J1H 3P9
Informations
Chantal Boulanger and Marc O'Reilly
oreillymarc@hotmail.com
819 346-3097
Les Amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie exists since 2010. The organization, acknowledged by the City of Sherbrooke, promotes the pipe and reed organ and its repertoire while showcasing the various instruments found in the region. It also supports the creation and performance of original organ music and contributes to the discovery of lesser-known works.
Each year, around six concerts are presented, featuring the organ as a soloist or accompanied by singers or other instruments such as the trumpet, violin, cello or harp. The concerts are presented in different churches in Sherbrooke such as Plymouth Trinity Church, St. Mark’s Chapel, Saint Jean Baptiste Church, Immaculée-Conception Church and Saint Michel Cathedral Basilica. Each church is different, not only in its architecture, but also in its acoustics and in the craftsmanship of its instrument.
Each instrument has been designed specifically for the place where it has been installed or, if it has been moved, adapted to its new location. If the organ is more associated with the liturgical service, it is also a concert instrument with a very rich repertoire. It is a little-known instrument, and all the orchestral majesty of the organ is enhanced by the architecture and the acoustics of the site.
Since summer 2019, Les Amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie also present a three-concert organ festival at the Saint-Michel Cathedral Basilica.
Membership in Les Amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie is available at a cost of $20 per year, which entitles the member to two issues of a captivating magazine on the organ community in Quebec. For membership or any other information, write to oreillymarc@hotmail.com or call 819 346‑3097.
Plan Your Stay
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PROGRAMMING
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Pax Luminosa
St. Mark’s Chapel of Bishop’s University
Claudine Ledoux, mezzo-soprano and Julien Girard, organ
20$
Buy your tickets01
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Louis Mitchell, né il y a 200 ans
Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton Church
Louis Brouillette, organ, Chœur Piacere under the direction of Chantal Boulanger, Robin Côté, organ builder, and Jean Choquette on animation
Contribution volontaire
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
La Relève
St-Michel Cathedral Basilica
Dorothée Lacasse, organ
$20 – tickets on sale at the venue
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Christmas
Saint-Michel Cathedral Basilica
Piacere Choir under the direction of Chantal Boulanger, Nicolas-Alexandre Marcotte, organ
$20 | Tickets on sale at the venue
12
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Célébrons
Basilique-Cathédrale Saint-Michel
Louis Brouillette, organ, and the Sacré-Cœur School Teachers’ String Ensemble.
General Admission: $20 | Students: $10$
Buy your tickets19
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Baroque music in the spotlight
St. Mark’s Chapel of Bishop’s University
Aubert Lavoie, organ
General Admission: $20 | Students: $10$
Buy your tickets16
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
De l’Europe au Québec
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church
Francis Gagnon, organ
General Admission: $20 | Students: $10$
Buy your tickets05
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Chocolat
St-Michel Cathedral Basilica
Organ Festival 2023 | 6th edition
The film Chocolat with Juliette Binoche is the theme of this concert with organ where you will hear the Estrie organists Cécile L’Écuyer, Chantal Boulanger and Louis Brouillette.
Voluntary contribution
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Baroque & Modernity
St-Michel Cathedral Basilica
Organ Festival 2023 | 6th edition
Raphaël Ashby, a young organist from East Angus, gives us a concert where contemporary composers rub shoulders with baroque composers.
Voluntary contribution
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
D’un continent à l’autre
St-Michel Cathedral Basilica
Organ Festival 2023 | 6th edition
Composers from France, Germany and Quebec are at the heart of the program of Laurence Jobidon, organist and composer.
Voluntary contribution
01
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Baroque et classique
Chapelle St.Mark’s
Music Doctor Régis Rousseau regularly gives recitals in Canada and Europe. He has held various influential positions in the musical community, such as that of director of the Conservatoire de Saguenay. On the programme: baroque pieces (Bach, Blow and Buxtehude) and classics (Haydn and Mozart)
General Admission 20$ | Student 10$
Buy your tickets29
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Pater noster
Basilique-cathédrale St-Michel, 130 rue de la Cathédrale, Sherbrooke
Marc D’Anjou has been the titular organist of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Quebec City since 1993. It honours Böhm, Buxtehude, Clérambault, Mendelssohn and Bédard, whose works on the Our Father
General Admission 20$ | Student 10$
Buy your tickets10
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Gloria
Basilique-cathédrale St-Michel, 130 rue de la Cathédrale, Sherbrooke
Let’s celebrate choral singing with the famous Gloria de Vivaldi and the sublime Cantique by Jean Racine de Fauré performed by the Victoriavillois female choir Les Chante-Dames and the titular organist of Sherbrooke Cathedral.
General Admission 20$ | Student 10$
Buy your tickets24
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Espana
St.Mark’s Chapel, 2600 College Street, Sherbrooke
Vincent Brauer, Quebec organist specializing in Spanish music and lecturer at Laval University, offers a recital of Iberian organ pieces from the 16th to the 20th century. Welcome to the fascinating world of Cabanilles, Cabezon, Correa de Arauxo, Guiridi, Mompou and Turina.
General Admission 20$ | Student 10$
Buy your tickets14
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Concert sacré Voix et orgue
Église Saint-François-Xavier, 181 rue de l’Église, Saint-François-Xavier-de-Brompton
Maude Fréchette-Gagné, voice • Maryse Simard, organ and harpsichord, Jean-Yves St-Pierre, organ and flutes
The Saint-François-Xavier organ is the oldest two-manual mechanical traction organ in Canada. The restoration was carried out by Juget-Sinclair of Montreal in 2014-2015.
General admission 21,50$ | Student 11,50$
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Treasures and Success
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church, 280 rue du Conseil, Sherbrooke
Frédéric Demers, one of the best Canadian trumpets according to the International Trumpet Guild, and the colourful Louis Brouillette present known works or to discover.
General Admission 20$ | Student 10$
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Bach
Chapelle St.Mark’s, 2600 rue College, Sherbrooke
Nicolas-Alexandre Marcotte teaches organ at the Cégep de Sherbrooke. His first album, devoted to J. S. Bach, was acclaimed by critics. It presents a concert cleverly combining three works by Bach and two 20th century pieces (Leguay and Radulescu).
General Admission 20$ | Student 10$
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Oratorio Marie-Madeleine, apôtre des apôtres
Basilique-cathédrale St-Michel, 130 rue de la Cathédrale, Sherbrooke
The Oratorio “Marie-Madeleine, apôtre des apôtres” is a grandiose work by the composer from Sherbrooke, Marc O’Reilly. The work requires an impressive choral ensemble consisting of a grand choir, chamber choir, women’s choir, men’s choir, children’s choir and three soloists. The instrumentation that accompanies the work includes two organs, a saxophone, a trombone, a cello, percussion and a guitar. This work is in the great tradition of sacred works of baroque, classical and romantic music, but in a current post-modern writing. Inspired by great philosophical questions, spirituality and physical phenomena of nature, he combines these elements with finesse to the delicacy of a melody and a free and surprising harmony. The works of Marc O’Reilly, written with all his sensitivity as a composer, are bearers of peace. This is a must-attend event that will mark the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Diocese of Sherbrooke.
General admission in pre-sale $45 until October 12 | At the door $55 | Free children 12 years and less
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Paris
Église Saint-Louis-de-France, 166, avenue Saint-Jean est, East Angus
The organist, musical journalist and doctoral student in history Emmanuel Bernier honors famous Parisian organists-composers of the 19th and 20th centuries with pieces by Gigout, Guilmant, Vierne and Widor.
General Admission 20$ | Student 10$
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Noël
Basilique-cathédrale St-Michel, 130 rue de la Cathédrale, Sherbrooke
The magic of Christmas takes place with the crystalline voices of the grade 6 children of the primary school with musical concentration of the Sacred Heart and three renowned musicians from the Eastern Townships: the organist Louis Brouillette, the violinist Lydia Gasse and the cellist Marie-Philippe Lemay
General Admission 20$ | Student 10$
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Carême grégorien
Basilique-cathédrale St-Michel
Let’s live Lent in music: bewitching plains-chants with the Sherbrooke Gregorian Choir and new organ pieces by Marc O’Reilly. On the organ, Chantal Boulanger
General Admission 20$ | Student 10$
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Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Leipzig
Chapelle St.Mark’s, 2600 rue College, Sherbrooke
Organist Raymond Perrin, a recently retired professor at the Conservatoire de Trois-Rivières and Conservatoire de Montréal and the Université de Montréal, celebrates Bach and Mendelssohn, two musicians who have marked the musical life of Leipzig.
General Admission 20$ | Student 10$
06
Les amis de l’orgue de l’Estrie
Succès
Église Plymouth-Trinity, 380. rue Dufferin, Sherbrooke
Two graduates of the music department of the Université de Sherbrooke perform sublime hits that we never tire of listening to, like Panis angelicus and Ave Maria says of Caccini.