On Friday, January 24 at 8:30 p.m., two widely popular groups from Quebec—Le Vent du Nord & De Temps Antan—come together in Zankel Hall for an exuberant performance of traditional and contemporary dance tunes of French-Canadian culture. In a program entitled QuebecFest!, the groups perform on a host of instruments that include hurdy-gurdy, jaws harp, guitar, and accordion with richly harmonized songs and instrumentals.
Le Vent du Nord and De Temps Antan. Photo Credit: https://do617.com/
Le Vent du Nord and De Temps Antan teamed up together in 2016 and have performed traditional Quebec folk music (often called “trad” in colloquial Québécois French) throughout Quebec, the US, France and Switzerland, and at the Royal Glasgow Concert Hall. In 2018, they released a recording that was awarded Album of the Year—Traditional at the Québec Association for the Recording, Concert and Video Industries (ADISQ).
The award-winning Le Vent du Nord (The North Wind) is a leading force in Quebec’s progressive francophone folk movement and a key group in the renaissance of Quebec’s traditional music. The group’s vast repertoire draws from both traditional sources and original compositions, while enhancing its hard-driving soulful music (rooted in the Celtic diaspora) with a broad range of global influences. Since its inception in August 2002, Le Vent du Nord has enjoyed meteoric success, performing well over 2,000 concerts over four continents and receiving several prestigious awards, including a Grand Prix du Disque Charles Cros, two Junos (Canada’s Grammys), a Félix at ADISQ, a Canadian Folk Music Award, and “Artist of the Year” at the North American Folk Alliance Annual Gala. The group has appeared regularly on Canadian, American, French, and UK television and radio; played recently at major festivals such as Celtic Connections, WOMAD Chile, WOMADelaide, and WOMAD New Zealand; and collaborated and performed with a diverse range of artists, including Väsen, Dervish, The Chieftains, Breton musical pioneer Yann-Fañch Kemener, Québecois roots legend Michel Faubert, singer Julie Fowlis, and the trans-Mediterranean ensemble Constantinople. Le Vent du Nord also created a symphonic concert, providing a bridge between the symphonic and Quebec traditional music. In 2018, the band—Nicolas Boulerice, Simon Beaudry, Olivier Demers and Réjean Brunet—became a quintet when André Brunet joined the ensemble.
De Temps Antan (Of Olden Times) is regarded as the most powerful trad trio in Quebec. Its members— Éric Beaudry, David Boulanger and Pierre-Luc Dupuis—have been brilliantly and skillfully exploring and renewing the Quebec traditional repertoire since 2003. Using fiddle, accordion, harmonica, guitar, bouzouki and a number of other instruments, these three virtuosos blend boundless energy with the unmistakable joie de vivre found in traditional Quebec music. Their sets include ancient songs, new tunes, uncontrollable fits of laughter, dusted-down verses, and the occasional unplanned side trip. De Temps Antan has five albums to its credit, including Ce monde ici-bas which won ADISQ’s 2014 FELIX Award for Best Traditional Music Album, and has toured North America and Europe. All three musicians have been members of various Quebécois groups, including the iconic La Bottine Souriante.
Program Information
Le Vent du Nord, De Temps Antan: QUEBECFEST!
- Presented by Carnegie Hall in partnership with Robert Browning Associates LLC.
- Friday, January 24, 2020 at 8:30 p.m., Zankel Hall
Tickets, priced $35 and $45, are available at the Carnegie Hall Box Office, 154 West 57th Street, or can be charged to major credit cards by calling CarnegieCharge at 212-247-7800 or by visiting the Carnegie Hall website, carnegiehall.org.
For more information on discount ticket programs, including those for students, Notables members, and Bank of America customers, visit carnegiehall.org/discounts. Artists, programs, and prices are subject to change.
In honor of the centenary of his birth, Carnegie Hall’s 2019–2020 season is dedicated to the memory of Isaac Stern in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to Carnegie Hall, arts advocacy, and the field of music.
Bank of America is the Proud Season Sponsor of Carnegie Hall.
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