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Organ, brass and percussion perform Holst’s The Planets 2023-2024

At the controls of the Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique, Jean-Willy Kunz takes you to the farthest reaches of the universe with Holst’s famous The Planets.

Season partner

At the controls of the Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique, Jean-Willy Kunz takes you to the farthest reaches of the universe with Holst’s famous The Planets, an inspiration for many film music composers. Join us on an exhilarating sonic journey and discover this work in a truly innovative version that also features brass and percussion instruments.

Artists

Concert without orchestra

Thomas Le Duc-Moreau, conductor 

Jean-Willy Kunz, OSM organist-in-residence 

Paul Merkelo, Stéphane Beaulac, Robert Weymouth, Sam Dusinberre and Thierry Champs, trumpets

James Box, Charles Benaroya and Pierre Beaudry, trombones

Austin Howle, tuba

Catherine Turner and Nadia Côté, horns

François St-Jean, timpani

Josh Wynnyk and Nicolas Lapointe, percussion

François Zeitouni, celesta

Programme

HolstThe Planets for 14 brass and 3 percussion instruments (50 min.)

Without intermission

The Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique was generously offered to the OSM by Mrs. Jacqueline Desmarais.

Total duration50minutes

Thomas Le Duc-Moreau

Conductor

Thomas Le Duc-Moreau held the position of Assistant Conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal from 2019 to 2021. Immediately upon assuming this role, he made his OSM debut conducting a regular-season concert on short notice. He went on to conduct two more main series concerts. In addition to serving as the assistant to Music Director Kent Nagano, he collaborated with guest conductors Bernard Labadie, Susanna Mälkki, Rafael Payare and François-Xavier Roth. Le Duc-Moreau has also conducted more than twenty OSM concerts for young audiences and special activities.

He previously served as Assistant to Fabien Gabel, with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, and Jacques Lacombe, with the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières. He is also the founding Artistic Director of Ensemble Volte.

As a guest conductor, Le Duc-Moreau has collaborated with the Bonn Opera, Opéra de Québec and the Prague National Theatre Orchestra.

Jean-Willy Kunz

Organist-in-residence

Jean-Willy Kunz is the first Organist-in-Residence of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. In addition to performances with the Orchestra and as a soloist in recital, he supervises the development and showcasing of the OSM’s Grand Orgue Pierre-Béique at the Maison symphonique de Montréal. His most recent performances include concerts with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Violons du Roy, with saxophonist Branford Marsalis, and with singer-songwriters Pierre Lapointe, Rufus Wainwright and Martha Wainwright. A significant portion of his discography reflects multiple musical influences: Symphonie et créations pour orgue et orchestre, with the OSM (2016 Juno Award-winning album) ; Impressions for organ, clarinet, saxophone, trombone, double bass and percussions; Punkt, with Pierre Lapointe, and André Gagnon Baroque, for harpsichord and symphony orchestra. Jean-Willy Kunz is Professor of Organ at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and Artistic Director of the Canadian International Organ Competition.