Lanaudiere and Orford Festivals Summer 2010

Your best bets for classical music in the summer are two established festivals. Lanaudiere is located in Joliette and Orford is nestled in the bucolic setting of the Eastern Townships.

1.  Lanaudiere: This year's classical music festival runs from July 10th to August 8th in Joliette, Quebec. The festival was founded back in 1978 and showcases some of the world's best classical musicians in a variety of concerts in this lovely town some 45 miles off Montreal.

My faves this year:

• July 17, ORCHESTRE SYMPHONIQUE DE QUÉBEC with conductor Yoav Talmi and soprano Yannick-Muriel NOAH, in a program of works by Bellini, Verdi, Sibelius and Hétu .
• July 31, DEUTSCHE KAMMERPHILHARMONIE BREMEN with conductor Paavo JÄRVI and renowned violinist Hilary HAHN in works by Beethoven, Schumann.

More information on the festival's official website: http://www.lanaudiere.org/

2.  Orford Festival


With Jean-Francois Rivest, the new artistic director at the helm, Orford Festival (June 18 to August 15) continues a grand tradition of master classes, workshops and concerts. This year the Montreal Symphony Orchestra joins the prestigious festival for an entire week with Kent Nagano at the helm. The festival takes place in the beautiful region of the Eastern Townships east on Montreal.
Check out the entire lineup at : http://www.arts-orford.org/