The string ensemble collectif9 and violist Marina Thibeault were both named finalists in their respective categories for CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR (SMALL ENSEMBLE) and CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR (LARGE ENSEMBLE) at the 2023 JUNO Award Ceremony!
The album of collectif9 released with Alpha Classics in the spring of 2022, Vagues et Ombres tackles the music of Debussy, with original arrangements of works such as Clair de lune, La Mer and Des pas sur la neige. A work by composer Luna Pearl Woolf also completes the programme: Contact. Listen to the album here.
Viola Borealis, launched by Atma Classique in 2022 by Marina Thibeault, brings together the first viola concerto in history, by Georg Philip Telemann, and one of the most recent, by Latvian composer Peteris Vasks. All accompanied by the Agora Orchestra, under the baton of conductor Nicolas Ellis. The album also includes works for solo viola by Melody McKiver of the Anichinabe Nation. Viola Borealis is available here.
Also in the finalists, the album Messiah (Leaf Music) by Ensemble Caprice and Ensemble Vocal-Arts Québec, under the direction of Matthias Maute, presenting George Frideric Handel’s Messiah featuring Karina Gauvin. This album, nominated in the category CLASSICAL ALBUM OF THE YEAR (LARGE ENSEMBLE), includes a new composition of Latitude 45's composer, Jaap Nico Hamburger. Listen to "Hope and Belief" here.
While waiting for the 2023 JUNO Awards Celebration on March 13, have a look at the complete list of finalists here!