Bengal's Corner

Hello, everyone!

This entry is about Le Vent du Nord and the release of their new album tomorrow. Although, the promo I got here isn't accepting readjustments of its size, so you have to click on top of it to see it bigger... Sorry about that.

Bengal.

Hello, everyone!

And thanks, Liz and Sue, for your review on the new Le Vent du Nord's show. I couldn't make it because I was involved in another project. Although, as my dear friend Pelletier, I believe it would take me a while to pass the absence of Benoit Bourque in the band. Meanwhile, I noticed that the "Maine Connection" (Liz and Sue) didn't comment the band's song list... Yes, Liz and Sue managed to get the band's song list for that show! It has the name of many new tunes that the eager fans might be very curious about, since the new album won't be in the market till next October (according to Olivier Demers).

For this reason, I'll complete the information shared adding the full list here... (I'll check the French grammar and accents as soon as I have access to my office's computer, so I'm sorry for any mistakes/typos right now)

Les Amants Du Saint-Laurant
Montmagny
Rosette
Heure Bleue
Cre Mardi
Vive L'amour
Vieux Cheval
Mariage
Moines
Larmes
Poilus
Traversée
Le Bon Buveur
Poirier
Piastres

Encore:

Au Bord de la Fontaine
De la Chambre a la Cuisine


You all have a great week ahead!
Bengal.

Le Vent du Nord (Brunet, Beaudry, Boulerice and Demers) with Norman - the gnome

Bangor, ME :- The North Wind blew in from Québec once more with a force to be reckoned with. Le Vent Du Nord was in form on the rainy night of May 18 in Ellsworth, ME. Full of renewed energy and dressed in the so well known Québécois style, Nicolas Boulerice, Olivier Demers, Simon Beaudry and Rejean Brunet presented a show that was anything but boring, to say the least.

Even before they hit the stage, the audience was in frenzy. They brought the band out to a packed house, cheering, clapping and stomping their feet, for the music of one of the best loved Canadian bands to hit this area in many years. Olivier, the band's fiddle player, was beckoning everyone down in front of the stage to dance and sing along while still in the third song of the night. It did not take much coaxing to gather the crowd of enthusiastic fans, young and old, dancing and clapping to the beat of the music.

Their opening song, Les amants du Saint-Laurent (Nicolas Boulerice), had a new sound with the addition of Brunet’s bass playing. A much deeper, cut to the soul sound than before. The repertoire was full of new tunes from their soon to be released 3rd album. A wonderful blend of old tradition and newly written songs, this album is surely to be a contender for the prestigious and highly coveted Juno! Mark our words: we will definitely see Le Vent du Nord in the running for this award in the coming year!

Among some of the new tunes, two stand out as becoming signature songs for the band. Heure Bleue is a beautiful song about the time between night and day when the sky is that deep shade of blue, just before the dawn. Beautiful and magical are the only two words that can be used to describe this song. Rosette is another that is sure to capture the hearts of all those who love the Québécois traditional music.

Keep an eye open for their new album coming soon, so you can all enjoy these and the many other wonderful tunes soon to be filling everyone’s head with wonder and enchantment!

Till the next time, mes amis!

Sue and Liz, the Maine Connection. :)

Dear all,

Today I had the opportunity to watch one of the Portland Symphony Orchestra performances in the morning. You read it right - in the morning. It's part of the Youth Concerts, a project that started during Arthur Bennett Lipkin's tenure with the symphony, as a resident conductor (1962-1967). The main goal of the program is to educate the young minds (8 to 13 years old) on "diverse styles of music, while learning about the elements of orchestral music and the instruments that perform it."

The theme for the series this year, Storm Chasers, is the weather and how it can be represented in a Classical repertoire. The concerts were held today at 9h30 and 11h10 am, at the beautifully architectured Merryl Auditorium and will repeat tomorrow at the same times. I was there a bit before the second performance.

I have to compliment the organization of the event for their ability in placing 800 children and their teachers (for each concert) into the auditorium in a very dynamic and efficient way - not an easy task - and even harder to remove them without much commotion and time between both presentations. The main entrance of the theater was surrounded by three-lanes of yellow buses.

Previously to the show, the teachers/schools had access to a pack containing some educational material and a warm welcome to the event by Heather Klenow, the Education and Operations Coordinator. In the material, you could find the program of the Youth Concerts, guidelines to prepare the children for the event with information on the orchestra instruments, the biography of the composers they would listen to, a glossary of musical terms, the artistic record of the performers (including guests), among other useful materials to make the experience pleasant and unique.

According to Normal Rapkin, one of the Orchestra board directors, who I met this morning, this project is presented to the local community twice a year. Once around March and then again around October. Today though it was the first concert where the Orchestra had a guest participating in the programme and he (Rapkin) seemed very excited about it. The guest he was referring to is the Québécois ensemble Le Vent du Nord (a local report on the band's shows with the orchestra can be found here).

Le Vent du Nord (Benoit Bourque, Simon Beaudry, Nicolas Boulerice and Olivier Demers) is in town since last Friday and gave two public performances over the weekend. These were Benoit Bourque's last public performances with the band, since he will start new projects soon. This farewell placed a sad note on the event for many fans that drove up (or down) here for the shows. I had the opportunity to meet some new friends, also talented artists and great people to be with. They told me how much Benoit's incredible energy, talents and stage presence will be missed.

This Québécois band, that has its name translated to English as "The Wind from the North", presented two of their compositions for the Youth Concerts Series together with the Portland Orchestra: Les amants du Saint-Laurent (N. Boulerice) and Gigue à trois (Trad/B. Bourque).

For the majority of the program though, the Classical agenda prevailed:

Wagner - Overture to the Flying Dutchman
Debussy - Nocturnes I. Clouds
Vivaldi - The Four Seasons, Op. 8 No. 4 "Winter" I. Allegro non molto III. Allegro
Beethoven - Symphony No. 6, Op. 68 "Pastorale" IV. Allegro "The storm" V. Allegretto "Joyous thanksgiving after the storm"
Straus - Thunder and Lightning Polka

Daniel Meyer conducted the Portland Symphony Orchestra and Le Vent du Nord with expansive, warm gestures and joy. Concertmaster Charles Dimmick led the Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, in this performance.

Daniel introduced the Orchestra percussion to the little ones in the audience while reproducing the sounds of a storm under formation. The following step was to request each part of the theater to reproduce some of these sounds with their hands and feet, complementing the auditory effect. The children around me in the orchestra section were delighted! Another act that completed the presentation was the comic entrance by meteorologist Kevin Mannix (WCSH Channel 6) to introduce one of the classical pieces, explaining the physics behind the storms. At this point, for the average age of the audience, I think terms as "electrical charges" could pass unabsorbed since the concept isn't much accessible to the children of that age (hey, I'm a Physicist). But overall, if the teachers did their work beforehand, I'm positive that the children had an educational experience today. I know for sure, after hearing to many comments, that they enjoyed the whole event. Comments as "If I learn the guitar I can play with a symphony!" (reference to Le Vent Du Nord's guitarist Simon Beaudry) or "I'll buy the CD and make sounds of rain with my family now!".

In terms of complaints, the ones I've heard were - "I wanted to hear one of the band's songs without the orchestra" (from one of the teachers), "we should have more time to let the kids explore the instruments presented like the [Le Vent du Nord's] hurdy-gurdy played today, that isn't a common one" and "the guests weren't called back to the stage for the curtain call". I'm curious about this last one too. Is this a change in the traditional structure of the concerts that they adopt for these series? I missed the reappearance of all the performers after the end of the concert for acknowledging the audience's applauses.

Still, I want to congratulate the Portland Symphony Orchestra and their boards and staff for the initiative on the Youth Concerts series.

Bengal.

Hello, everyone!

I want to reproduce here part of an email sent by Le Vent du Nord because this is a great tip for the weekend for those that enjoy Québécois Traditional Music. I'm very curious to see them playing with an Orchestra.

Bengal.

"Symphonic Vent du Nord

March 24-25, Le Vent du Nord will perform two special concerts with the Portland Symphony Orchestra, as part of their 2006-2007 POP concert series. Note: Come to think of it, Portland (Maine) is only a five-and-a-half-hour drive from Montréal… These Portland concerts will be Benoit Bourque’s last concerts with Le Vent du Nord.

Le Vent du Nord Symphonique

Les 24 et 25 mars prochain, Le Vent du Nord présentera dans le cadre de la série de concerts POP 2006-2007 de l’Orchestre symphonique de Portland, deux concerts spéciaux entouré de l’Orchestre Symphonique de Portland. Avis aux intéressés, Portland (Maine) n’est finalement qu’à 5 heures et demi de route de Montréal... Ces concerts à Portland seront les derniers que Le Vent du Nord présentera avec Benoit Bourque."

Picture this...

You are in the port walking the wood deck till the water...watching the Sun over the ocean …It’s early morning, a crispy sunny winter morning...everything around is very quiet. You have your sweater, your hot coffee and the cold breeze in your hair... You are not cold. Actually you feel comfortable, very comfortable. And the only thing you can hear is the warmth of this song, En disant ('just saying')… this is the perfect moment... Not that everything in your life is the way you want, but everything is the way it should be… and you have that perfect moment, in complete peace and true happiness…with the perfect song.

That’s why this composition is one of my favorites of all times. It always takes me back to perfection.

En disant is part of the album Un peu d'ci, un peu d'ça by Nicolas Boulerice and Olivier Demers.

Bengal,
en disant...

PS.: If I could let you hear just a little bit of it... I would make it the Bengal's Corner theme song! :)