About
Scroll down for more on the many faces of Akousma
History, mission and aknowledgementsThe organization ︎ The team
Awards ︎Major events
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History, mission, and
acknowledgements
Akousma
(formally Réseaux des arts médiatiques) is a concert production company that showcases
works by electroacoustic artists and collectives in Montréal. These works are
presented via an immersive sound system, and they take several forms:
acousmatic (tape music), mixed (tape and instruments), live (live electronics),
video music, or music integrated into other art forms such as dance,
performance, or installation.Composers Jean-François Denis, Gilles Gobeil, and Robert Normandeau founded Akousma in Montréal in 1991. They shared the role of artistic director for 17 years, until 2008 when they passed the baton to Nicolas Bernier for the 2008–2009 and 2010–2011 seasons. That same season, Réjean Beaucage took on the role of director general, with support from Louis Dufort as artistic director for the 2011–2012 season onward.
Akousma would like to thank the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Conseil des arts de Montréal and Canadian Heritage for their support for its operation. Akousma also receives valuable support from the Socan Foundation for its activities. Le Vivier and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal are important broadcasting partners.
The organization
UNIQUE IN CANADA
AKOUSMA is the leading presenter of electroacoustic music not only in Quebec, but also in Canada. Quebec composers are widely recognized for their success in major international competitions, and if we can speak of a “Montréal school” of electroacoustic music, this is because there is a concert production company like Akousma to showcase its work.
AKOUSMA is highly active in Montréal’s creative and experimental music scene and frequently collaborates with other organizations in the same vein. Over the years, we have presented works in partnership with Artengine (Ottawa), SMCQ, Orgue et couleurs, NEM, Avatar, FIMAV, Machines, Recto-Verso, Eastern Bloc, Codes d’accès, and Le Vivier, alongside collaborations with Radio-Canada, Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal, ACREQ, and others.
AKOUSMA also works actively for the future of creative and experimental music in Montréal through Le Vivier, a coalition of nearly 50 organizations working in the new music sector, whose main goal is to establish a site for performance and creation at the heart of Montréal. Since 1997, Akousma has commissioned 54 works, of which the list can be found here.
DIGITAL MUSIC OF ALL KINDS
Following on from the Rien à voir concert series (1997–2004), which was entirely dedicated to acousmatic music, the Akousma festival was launched in 2005 to showcase the wider spectrum of electroacoustic music—from musique concrète to visual music, mixed music, and live performance.
To this end, the concert production company adds more names to its list of partnerships each year, allowing it to hold concerts across Montréal (at Eastern Bloc, the SAT, Le Vivier, and Suoni) as well as extending its action further afield (to Victoriaville, Joliette, Gatineau, Quebec City, Ottawa, and Troy [NY]). The diverse range of venues in which Akousma holds its concerts reflects the multitude of paths that electroacoustic music has taken since Pierre Schaeffer’s musique concrète first encountered Karlheinz Stockhausen’s electronic music. In the decades between their era and our own, computer technology has mutated to democratize the means of production; as a result, what was once the music of the future has gradually become part of our day-to-day landscape. Today, while university music departments provide the opportunity to learn and master the intricate parameters of sound, many sound artists achieve their expertise via the self-directed and self-taught route.
For this very reason, and while embracing the full range of practices within the genre, Akousma also works hard to promote young local and international artists alongside the veterans and pioneers who paved the way in Quebec and worldwide. And, in his ten years as artistic director, Louis Dufort has built up an impressive list of invitees:
Adrian Moore (GB) – Alain Lefebvre – Alain Thibault – Aho Saan (FR) – Adam Basanta – Adam Stanovic (GB) – Ana Dall-Ara-Majek – Andrea Parkins (US) – Annette Vande Gorne (BE) – Antwood (CA) – Atte Elias Kantonen (FI) – BEFACO (ES) – Bénédicte – Ben Vida (US) – Bérangère Maximin (FR) – Bernard Parmegiani – Benjamin Thigpen (US) – Brunhild Ferrari (FR) – Byron Westbrook (US) – Cendrine Robelin (FR) – Chris Strickland – Christian Bouchard – Christian Calon – Christophe Lengelé – Claude Périard – Concordia Laptop Orchestra – Daniel Menche (US) – David Arango-Valencia – David Berezan (CA/GB) – David Cronkite – Diego Bermudez Chamberland – Dominic Jasmin – Dominic Thibault – Devon Hansen – Elias Merino (ES) – Éliane Radigue (FR) – Elizabeth Anderson (US/BE) – Emilie Payeur – Erin Gee – Estelle Lemire – Estelle Schorpp – Falaises – Felisha Ledesma (SE) – Fernando Murillo (MX) – Florence-Delphine Roux – FÜNF – Franck Vigroux (FR) – Francis Dhomont (FR/CA) – Francisco Lopez (ES) – François Bayle (FR) – François Bonnet (FR) – France Jobin – Frédéric Auger – Frédéric Janelle – Gilles Gobeil – Giant Claw (US) – GMACKRR – Golden Retriever (US) – Gonima – Guillaume Cliche – Guillaume Côté – Ggroundd – Hanna Hartman (SE) – Hildegard Westerkamp (CA) – Horacio Vaggione (FR/AR) – Hugo Tremblay – Ilyaa Ghafouri – Ilpo Vaisanen (FI) – Jane/Kin – Jana Winderen (NOR) – Jean-François Blouin – Jean-François Denis – Jean Piché – Jessica Ekomane (FR) – Jesse Osborne-Lanthier – John Chantler (AU) – John Rea – John Young (NZ) – Joël Lavoie – Jon Vaughn (CA) – Joséph Sims – Julien Racine – Julie Delisle – Juliane Hoff – Junya Oikawa (US) – Jullian Hoff – Karlheinz Stockhausen (DE) – Katie Finn – Keith F. Whitman (US) – Lea Bertucci (US) – Laurie Radford (CA) – Lea Boudreau – Line Katcho – Lise-Lotte Norelius (SE) – Loscil (CA) – Louis Dufort – Ludwig Berger (DE) – Lucas Paris – Magnitude6 – Manja Ristic (RS) – Marc Behrens (DE) – Marja Ahti (FI) – Marie Anne – Marie-Hélène Breault – Marie-Jeanne Wyckmans (BE) – Martin Bédard – Martin Marier – Martin Messier – Martin Rogriguez – Martina Lussi (CH) – Mathieu Bezkorowajny – Maxime Corbeil-Perron – Mikael Meunier-Bisson – Michel Chion (FR) – Minibloc – Monique Jean – Monty Adkins (GB) – Mourad Bncr – Myriam Bleau – Myriam Boucher – Nadia Ratsimandresy (FR) – Nashim Gargari – Natasha Barrett (GB/NO) – Nicolas Bernier – Nicolas Giannini – Nicolas Ratti (IT) – Nicolas Thirion (FR) – Nick Storring – Nicola Giannini – Olivia Block (US) – Oren Ambarchi (AU) – Panayiotis Kokoras (GR) – Patrick Saint-Denis – Paulina Sundin (GB/SE) – Pauline Patie – Philippe Leroux (FR/CA) – Philippe Vandal – Pierce Warnecke (FR/US) – Pierre Alexandre Tremblay – Pierre-Luc Lecours – Pierre-Luc Senécal – Pierre-Yves Macé (FR) – Pipo Pierre-Louis – Pita (GB) – Projection: Luc Ferrari (BE) – Quatuor Bozzini – Rashad Becker (DE) – Rene Hell (US) – Richard Chartier (NL) – Richard Devine (US) – Robert Hampson (GB) – Robert Normandeau – Rocio Cano Valiño (AR) – Roger Tellier-Craig – Rose Bolton (CA) – Roxanne Melissa Guerra-Lacasse – Roxanne Turcotte – Rouzbeh Shadpey – Ryu Yoshizawa (JP) – Sarah Belle Reid (US) – Sarah Feldman – Scant Intone (CA) – Seth Nehil (US) – SPIEL – Stephan Mathieu (DE) – Stéphane Roy – Sylvain Pohu – Tempo Reale (IT) – Terri Hron (CA) – Thomas Ankersmit (NL) – Tomoko Sauvage (JP) – Tristan Perich (US) – Valerio Tricoli (IT) – Vanessa Massera – Véro Marengère – Vincent Fliniaux – Vincent Gagnon – Vivian Li – Xavier Madore – Yves Charuest – Yves Daoust
The team
Artistic director : Louis Dufort
Louis Dufort is a Montréal composer. His productions are numerous and of multiple forms: fixed support, mixed with live processing, visual music, and installation. He has received several commissions from various musical ensembles and organizations: ACREQ, SMCQ, Réseaux, Chants libres, Codes d’accès, ECM, Quasar saxophone quartet, Quatuor Bozzini, The Users, Musée Pointe-à-Callière, ZKM (Germany), SIXTRUM, and Radio-Canada. He has also been a regular collaborator with COMPAGNIE MARIE CHOUINARD since 1996. Louis Dufort has a PhD in electroacoustic composition from the Université de Montréal, and he teaches composition at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. He has been Akousma’s artistic director since 2010.
Director general: Réjean Beaucage
Following his BA in literary studies at the Université du Québec à Montréal, Réjean Beaucage turned his attention both to music (as a self-taught drummer) and to radio (mainly at CIBL-FM, where he was a researcher, director, producer, and presenter from 1985 to 2002). He won the Prix Opus from the Conseil québécois de la musique in the “Production médiatique de l’année 1996-1997” (Media production of the year, 1996–1997) category for his series of radio programs AnémixinémA/Zone sonore. Alongside these pursuits, his interest in print journalism led him to become a regular contributor to Montréal weekly magazine Voir between 2001 and 2020. He has also written for La Scena Musicale, Circuit, and Improjazz (France), among many other magazines and journals. He has written a book on the history of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (Septentrion, 2011) and an essay on musique actuelle (Varia, 2019). He has been Akousma’s director general since 2010.
Coordinator of Mediation and Audience Development: Marie Anne Bérard
Marie Anne Bérard (she/her) is a composer and keyboardist based in Montreal. Her practice focuses on electroacoustic performance, installation, and the use of sound journaling as a compositional method. She is currently pursuing a master's degree in composition and sound creation at the Université de Montréal.
Web developper : Diane Kim-Lim
Technical director / soundman (Usine C) : Frédéric Auger
Photograph (concerts) : Caroline Campeau
Archive Website managed by DIM
Board of directors
- President : Georges Nicholson, communicator
- Vice-president : Pierre-Alexandre Bouchard, producer (cinema)
- Secretary : Marc Langlois, artists agent
- Treasurer : Martin Duchesne, administrator
Other members:
- Louis Dufort – composer, professor (CMM)
- Catherine Harrison-Boisvert – professor (Vincent-D’Indy School), editorial advisor
- Simon Laroche – new media artist, professor (Concordia University)
- Alain Roy, account manager (CEV)
Artistic committee
- Myriam Bleau – new media artist, composer
- Myriam Boucher – composer, professor, video artist
- Maxime Gordon – sound artist
- Evan Magoni – sound artist
- Roger Tellier-Craig – composer, improviser