First season as Music Director Designate of Orchestre symphonique de Montréal

On the heels of his San Diego success, Payare went on to launch his first season as Music Director Designate of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (OSM) with an Opening Night program combining Shostakovich’s searing Fifth Symphony with Ravel’s La valse and Kaléidoscope by Montreal native Pierre Mercure. The concert was captured on film, and the resulting webcast is now available on Canada’s mezzo.tv and Europe’s medici.tv platforms, as well as at the orchestra’s website, where it will be available on demand until November 2. His second program with the orchestra, which featured Brahms’s Second Symphony and violinist Hilary Hahn, found Payare “at the top of his game” (Le Devoir).

Meanwhile the conductor looks forward to leading five more OSM programs this season. These include symphonies by Beethoven (May 31–June 2), Bruckner (Jan 12 & 13) and Sibelius (Dec 8 & 11), as well as collaborations with bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green (May 31–June 2) and pianist Daniil Trifonov (April 20 & 21). 

Photo: Antoine Saito