PHILHARMONIE

Les Simpsons, icônes du classique

En tant que salle de concerts et d’institution publique, il nous tient à coeur d’attirer chaque saison un nouveau public, d’attiser la curiosité des gens qui n’ont jamais eu l’idée de mettre un pied à la Philharmonie. Il s’agit là d’un défi commun à tous les lieux culturels, qui relève de la survie pure et simple. Une recette fait généralement ses preuves: le mélange des genres. More

Musicians at home

Coppice’s practice room (photo: Billie Jean Howard)

Like every kid, I used to think that my teachers never left the school grounds and never went home to their family. In my mind they just didn’t have a home and a family. For all I knew my teachers were like robots that were turned off as soon as we left the classroom at the end of the day and turned on again at the beginning of the next.

In the same way there is this myth about artists living in surreal places, surrounded by old books and paintings and mystical objects that are inextinguishable sources of inspiration. The By Measure blog dispells this myth by photographing musicians and the environment in which they create. You see the real thing − which may not be Pinterest-perfect but which enlighten creatives and non-creatives alike on what motivates people to keep on creating.

Jesse Giallombardo’s practice room (photo: Billie Jean Howard)

While interviewing (mostly Chicago-based) musicians, Billie Jean Howard takes pictures of their practice room (which may really be a living room shared with roommates) as a whole but also focuses on desks and trinkets lying around to show what’s influenced them. The result is to be read, looked at and listened to on the By Measure blog. But be warned: it’s like going down the rabbit hole, you never know how much time you’ll spend there!

— Julie

(You can also read an interview with Billie Jean Howard on the New Music Box website.)

Do you know Mendelssohn?

There’s always more to know about Felix Mendelssohn (oil painting by Theodor Hildebrandt)

We’re sure you know this but we want you to make the best of our concerts. Getting the right seat is part of the fun, of course but to really enjoy a concert we sometimes need some background information. We’re not talking about a detailed lecture about the first movement of the symphony you’re about to hear. Maybe just a word about the motifs, the composer, the soloist. That’s the idea behind our “Backstage” series which we’re bringing back this season. More