The Quebec Contemporary Music Society, or Société de musique contemporaine du Québec in French (SMCQ), is a contemporary classical-music organization based in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. It was founded in 1966 by Montreal composers and musicians, including

Wilfrid Pelletier Joseph Louis Wilfrid Pelletier (sometimes spelled Wilfred), (20 June 1896 – 9 April 1982) was a Canadian conductor, pianist, composer, and arts administrator. He was instrumental in establishing the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, serving a ...

, Jean Papineau-Couture, Hugh Davidson,

Serge Garant Albert Antonio Serge Garant, (September 22, 1929 – November 1, 1986) was a Canadian composer, conductor, music critic, professor of music at the University of Montreal and radio host of ''Musique de notre siècle'' on Radio-Canada.

, and Maryvonne Kendergian. The SMCQ presents an annual series of concerts involving its own ensemble as well as invited guests, the biennial Montreal/New Music International Festival, and a youth program called SMCQ Jeunesse (SMCQ Youth). The 2007–08 season marked the inaugural of an Homage Series, planned to be a biennial collaborative event featuring the music of an important Quebec composer, which that season was Claude Vivier. The SMCQ's artistic director since 1988 has been

Walter Boudreau Walter Boudreau, (born 1947 in Sorel) is a Canadian composer, saxophonist and conductor. In 1969, he founded the group L'Infonie with Raoul Duguay, which dissolved in 1973. Since 1988, he has been the artistic director of the Société de m ...

Artistic Directors

*1966-1986 :

*1986-1988 : Gilles Tremblay *1988-... :

Montreal/New Music International Festival

The first Montreal/New Music International Festival was produced in 2005 and featured the music of more than 50 composers, including

Cornelis de Bondt Cornelis de Bondt (born 9 December 1953) is a Dutch composer. Born in The Hague, de Bondt attended the Royal Conservatory there and currently teaches composition and music theory at the same institution. In 2011 all of de Bondt's scores were wi ...

R. Murray Schafer Raymond Murray Schafer (18 July 1933 – 14 August 2021) was a Canadian composer, writer, music educator, and environmentalist perhaps best known for his World Soundscape Project, concern for acoustic ecology, and his book ''The Tuning of the ...

, and

Michel Longtin Michel Longtin (born 20 May 1946) is a Canadian composer and music educator based in Montreal. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre and a member of the Canadian League of Composers, he won the Jules Léger Prize for New Chamber Music in 19 ...

. It included performances by the

Hilliard Ensemble The Hilliard Ensemble was a British male vocal quartet originally devoted to the performance of early music. The group was named after the Elizabethan miniaturist painter Nicholas Hilliard. Founded in 1974, the group disbanded in 2014. Although ...

, Klangforum Wein and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. The format of the festival included a week of concerts, lectures, master classes, and public rehearsals with composers.

External links

Official site
*Official site o
Montreal/New Music International Festival
(alternate domain name) Quebec music Music organizations based in Canada Classical music festivals in Canada Contemporary music organizations 1966 establishments in Quebec Recurring events established in 1966 {{music-org-stub