Music of Quebec
Encyclopedia
Being a modern cosmopolitan society, today, all types of music can be found in the Canadian province of Quebec
. What is specific to Quebec though are traditional
songs, a unique variety of Celtic music
, legions of excellent jazz
musicians, a culture of classical music, and a love of foreign rhythms that can be observed in summer every Sunday on Mount Royal
in Montreal
. The First Nations
and the Inuit
of Quebec also have their own traditional music.
. After some generations of French settlers being born in Canada, the colonists began to identify with their home country and call themselves les Canadiens (the Canadians) as distinct from les Français (the French), those native to France. A similar socio-cultural phenomenon occurred in Acadia, and numerous other European colonies in America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
The Canadiens inherited a rich tradition of songs and dances from northern France, namely the regions of Île-de-France
, Picardy
, Normandy
, Poitou
, and Brittany
. Influence from these regions, and the Irish immigration to Quebec of the 19th century may explain the celtic connection that Quebec still shares with Brittany
, Ireland
, Scotland
and the Maritimes
.
As time went by, the French Canadians began to develop their own music, and also incorporated and transformed the styles of music played by the settlers from Great Britain, in particular the Scots, after the Conquest
. (One hundred of these songs were collected by Ernest Gagnon
for an 1865 compilation, one of the first such collections to be published in Canada.)
, who became extremely popular singing satirical and sometimes racy songs based on the Quebec and Irish folk traditions, and who also was expert in the wordless vocalization known as turlutte.
By the 1960s, radio
and television
had begun to help disseminate French folk songs, especially after the 1967 foundation of the Centennial Collection of Canadian Folk Songs, including recordings of Quebec performers like Yves Albert and Jacques Labrecque, as well as Acadian
Edith Butler
.
The most popular song writers and singers of this period were Gilles Vigneault
and Félix Leclerc
, who brought more influences, to the music of France-based singing stars like Jacques Brel
. Leclerc, from La Tuque
, and Vigneault, from Natashquan
in the north of Quebec, became heroes for a new generation of Quebec youth. It was Vigneault's "Mon pays
", (My Country), which became a rallying anthem for Quebec nationalism after a 1965 performance by Monique Leyrac
, and established a tradition of Quebec artists supporting Quebec's independence movement. Many artists openly endorsed it, notably Raymond Lévesque, Pauline Julien
and Paul Piché
.
In the 1960s, the French Canadians of Quebec were beginning to self-identify as Québécois (Quebecers). See the Quiet Revolution
. Another important nationalist performer during this period was Georges Dor
, who enjoyed international success with his recording of his own composition, "La complainte de la Manic" ("The Ballad of Manicouagan"); other popular singers of the time include Claude Gauthier
and Clemence Desrochers. Popular artists of the 70s included Harmonium
, Offenbach
, Plume Latraverse
, Garolou
and Beau Dommage
, as well as Michel Rivard
.
In 1974, Vigneault and Leclerc played on the Plains of Abraham
with Robert Charlebois
, who made heavy use of Quebec French
in his rock and roll
fusions. The 70s also saw roots performers like La Bottine Souriante
gain critical and commercial acclaim within Quebec. Jim Corcoran
and Bertrand Gosselin released La tête en gigue, an influential album that helped bring Quebec roots to crossover audiences across Canada, the United States and Europe.
In addition to his musical career, Corcoran currently hosts a weekly show on CBC Radio One
, which airs Francophone music from Quebec for English audiences across Canada.
The early 1980s saw the formation of francophone Synthpop
/New wave music
groups such as Nudimension
that became involved in the genesis of music video
and MTV
culture.
More recent Quebec performers include Richard Desjardins
, Daniel Boucher
, Marie-Chantal Toupin
, Éric Lapointe
, Vilain Pingouin
, Mes Aïeux
, Les Trois Accords
, Kaïn
, Dumas
, Les Colocs
, Daniel Bélanger
, Paul Cargnello
, Laurence Jalbert
, Rudy Caya, Jean Leloup, Celine Dion
, Les Stups
, La Chicane
, Dan Bigras
, and Isabelle Boulay
. Some bands, such as Les Cowboys Fringants
have known success in Europe (primarily in France) while Karkwa
, Vulgaires Machins
and Malajube
are also recognized elsewhere in Canada.
A hip-hop scene is also present in the Montreal area with groups like Loco Locass
, Sir Pathétik
, Sans Pression, Criollo
, Atach Tatuq, Manu Militari, KC LMNOP, Imposs
and Muzion
.
The metal scene is represented primarily by Sword
, Voivod
and death metal
bands Cryptopsy
, Kataklysm
, Martyr
, Neuraxis, Gorguts
, Quo Vadis
, Despised Icon
, Blackguard
, Beneath the Massacre
, Augury
and many others. Akitsa, Spirit of the Forest, Forteresse and Nefastus Dies
are a few of the black metal
bands that have come out of Quebec.
In 2003, TVA
began to broadcast Star Académie
, a Québécois version of a French reality music competition
, several new artists including Marie-Élaine Thibert
, Marie-Mai
, Émily Begin and Stéphanie Lapointe
became well-known music artists after their passage in the reality show.
The tensions between Quebec and English Canada have, at times, played out on Quebec's music scene as well. In 1991, Céline Dion
won the Félix
award for Best Anglophone Artist for her English-language debut, Unison, but refused it as she did not view herself as an Anglophone artist. After the controversy caused by this incident, Dion has been careful not to clearly declare herself as either federalist
or sovereignist.
Quebec has also produced a number of significant Anglophone artists, including Arcade Fire, Patrick Watson (musician)
, The Dears
, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
, Stars, The Stills
, The Unicorns
, Wolf Parade
, Rufus Wainwright
, Sam Roberts
, Paul Cargnello
, We Are Wolves
, The New Cities
, Chromeo
and Simple Plan
. In addition, some Quebec artists also included in the 1970s and in the 1980s Lewis Furey
, Leonard Cohen
, Kate and Anna McGarrigle
, Men Without Hats
, Norman Iceberg
, Rational Youth
, Corey Hart, The Box
, Gino Vannelli
, Jacynthe, France Joli
, Sass Jordan
and Grimskunk, who have frequently recorded both English and French material.
Some famous jazz musicians from Quebec are Oscar Peterson
, Oliver Jones, Charles Biddle
, Ranee Lee
, Karen Young
, and Alain Caron
.
The Montreal International Jazz Festival has been hosted by the city since 1980 and is now the largest jazz festival in the world, attracting huge crowds of visitors each summer, half of which come from outside the country. For the rest of the year, there is an Off festival that organizes jazz shows in bars all over Montreal.
is rising. Mostly in the city of Montreal
, well known for its cultural diversity, but also in other regions of Quebec
.
, and the foundation of the Montreal Opera Company in 1910, and opera singers became popular.
Angèle Dubeau
, Louis Lortie
, Alain Lefèvre
, Alain Trudel
, Alexandre Da Costa
, Marc-André Hamelin
, Nathalie Choquette and Richard Verreau
are top classical musicians from Quebec at the present.
André Mathieu
is among the most renowned composers from the province. He has been compared to a ‘little Canadian Mozart’, and Rachmaninov pronounced him, "a genius, more so than I am". His works became the official music of the Summer Olympics of 1976. Other famous composers are Claude Champagne
, Calixa Lavallée
and Pierre Mercure
, among others.
, Garou
, Anthony Kavanagh
(a stand up comedian), Isabelle Boulay
, Bruno Pelletier
, Linda Lemay and many others.
Roch Voisine
and Natasha St-Pier
are two artists who also perform in France and are often mistaken for Quebecers. They are actually from New Brunswick and are of Acadian heritage, like Daniel Lavoie
who is from Manitoba
.
has always developed its own musical pieces to go along with various acrobatic tricks. The music aspect of the shows is essential as it sets a mood to every single performance and links one number to another.
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. What is specific to Quebec though are traditional
Traditional music
Traditional music is the term increasingly used for folk music that is not contemporary folk music. More on this is at the terminology section of the World music article...
songs, a unique variety of Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
, legions of excellent jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
musicians, a culture of classical music, and a love of foreign rhythms that can be observed in summer every Sunday on Mount Royal
Mount Royal
Mount Royal is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately west of downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the city to which it gave its name.The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentians and the Appalachians...
in Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
. The First Nations
First Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
and the Inuit
Inuit
The Inuit are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada , Denmark , Russia and the United States . Inuit means “the people” in the Inuktitut language...
of Quebec also have their own traditional music.
Traditional music
Under French rule, what is now Quebec was called le Canada and was the most developed colony of New FranceNew France
New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period beginning with the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Spain and Great Britain in 1763...
. After some generations of French settlers being born in Canada, the colonists began to identify with their home country and call themselves les Canadiens (the Canadians) as distinct from les Français (the French), those native to France. A similar socio-cultural phenomenon occurred in Acadia, and numerous other European colonies in America, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
The Canadiens inherited a rich tradition of songs and dances from northern France, namely the regions of Île-de-France
Île-de-France (province)
The province of Île-de-France or Isle de France is an historical province of France, and the one at the centre of power during most of French history...
, Picardy
Picardy
This article is about the historical French province. For other uses, see Picardy .Picardy is a historical province of France, in the north of France...
, Normandy
Normandy
Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, Poitou
Poitou
Poitou was a province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers.The region of Poitou was called Thifalia in the sixth century....
, and Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
. Influence from these regions, and the Irish immigration to Quebec of the 19th century may explain the celtic connection that Quebec still shares with Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and the Maritimes
Maritimes
The Maritime provinces, also called the Maritimes or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. On the Atlantic coast, the Maritimes are a subregion of Atlantic Canada, which also includes the...
.
As time went by, the French Canadians began to develop their own music, and also incorporated and transformed the styles of music played by the settlers from Great Britain, in particular the Scots, after the Conquest
Conquest (military)
Conquest is the act of military subjugation of an enemy by force of arms. One example is the Norman conquest of England, which provided the subjugation of the Kingdom of England and the acquisition of the English crown by William the Conqueror in 1066...
. (One hundred of these songs were collected by Ernest Gagnon
Ernest Gagnon
Ernest Gagnon was a Canadian folklorist, composer, and organist. He is best known for compiling a large amount of French Canadian folk music which he published as Chansons populaires du Canada in 1865-1867...
for an 1865 compilation, one of the first such collections to be published in Canada.)
Popular music
Perhaps the most remarkable phenomenon in the popular music of that century was the career of La BolducLa Bolduc
Mary Rose-Anna Travers, was a French Canadian singer and musician. She was known as Madame Bolduc or La Bolduc. During the peak of her popularity in the 1930s, she was known as the Queen of Canadian Folksingers. Bolduc is often considered to be Quebec's first singer/songwriter...
, who became extremely popular singing satirical and sometimes racy songs based on the Quebec and Irish folk traditions, and who also was expert in the wordless vocalization known as turlutte.
By the 1960s, radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
had begun to help disseminate French folk songs, especially after the 1967 foundation of the Centennial Collection of Canadian Folk Songs, including recordings of Quebec performers like Yves Albert and Jacques Labrecque, as well as Acadian
Acadian
The Acadians are the descendants of the 17th-century French colonists who settled in Acadia . Acadia was a colony of New France...
Edith Butler
Édith Butler
Édith Butler O.C. is an Acadian singer-songwriter and folklorist. Her career began in the early 1960s with performances in Moncton, followed by national appearances on CBC Television's Singalong Jubilee.2003's Madame Butlerfly is her most recent studio recording.-Honours:*Butler was appointed an...
.
The most popular song writers and singers of this period were Gilles Vigneault
Gilles Vigneault
Gilles Vigneault, is a Canadian poet, publisher and singer-songwriter, and well-known Quebec nationalist and sovereigntist.A poet deeply rooted in his native Quebec, Vigneault has become an icon at home and Quebec ambassador abroad...
and Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc
Félix Leclerc, was a French-Canadian singer-songwriter, poet, writer, actor and Québécois political activist. He was made an Officer of the Order of Canada on December 20, 1968...
, who brought more influences, to the music of France-based singing stars like Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel
Jacques Brel was a Belgian singer-songwriter who composed and performed literate, thoughtful, and theatrical songs that generated a large, devoted following in France initially, and later throughout the world. He was widely considered a master of the modern chanson...
. Leclerc, from La Tuque
La Tuque, Quebec
La Tuque is a city in south central Quebec, Canada, on the Saint-Maurice River, between Trois-Rivières and Chambord. In 2006, it had a population of 11,821 Latuquois....
, and Vigneault, from Natashquan
Natashquan, Quebec (municipality)
Natashquan is a township municipality and village in Minganie Regional County Municipality, Côte-Nord region, Quebec, Canada. It should not be confused with the adjacent but separate Innu reserve of Natashquan....
in the north of Quebec, became heroes for a new generation of Quebec youth. It was Vigneault's "Mon pays
Mon Pays
"Mon pays" is a song composed by Gilles Vigneault in 1964.The song was written for the NFB film La Neige a fondu sur la Manicouagan, directed by Arthur Lamothe...
", (My Country), which became a rallying anthem for Quebec nationalism after a 1965 performance by Monique Leyrac
Monique Leyrac
Monique Leyrac, is a Canadian singer and actress from Quebec. Born Monique Tremblay in Montreal, Quebec 1928. She was the first great international star from French Canada. Using her natural gifts of music and drama she started her acting career on radio in 1943...
, and established a tradition of Quebec artists supporting Quebec's independence movement. Many artists openly endorsed it, notably Raymond Lévesque, Pauline Julien
Pauline Julien
Pauline Julien, CQ was a singer, songwriter, actress, feminist activist and Quebec sovereigntist.Born in Trois-Rivières, Québec, Julien was the companion of the poet and Québec provincial MLA Gérald Godin, another Trifluvian and sovereigntist. She also worked with Gilles Vigneault and recorded...
and Paul Piché
Paul Piché
Paul Piché is a Québécois singer-songwriter, environmentalist, political activist and renowned Quebec sovereigntist....
.
In the 1960s, the French Canadians of Quebec were beginning to self-identify as Québécois (Quebecers). See the Quiet Revolution
Quiet Revolution
The Quiet Revolution was the 1960s period of intense change in Quebec, Canada, characterized by the rapid and effective secularization of society, the creation of a welfare state and a re-alignment of politics into federalist and separatist factions...
. Another important nationalist performer during this period was Georges Dor
Georges Dor
Georges Dor was a Québécois author, composer, playwright, singer, poet, translator, and theatrical producer and director....
, who enjoyed international success with his recording of his own composition, "La complainte de la Manic" ("The Ballad of Manicouagan"); other popular singers of the time include Claude Gauthier
Claude Gauthier (singer)
Claude Gauthier is a Quebec singer-songwriter and actor.-Biography:Gauthier grew up in a family that enjoyed and performed music. His father sang Sundays in the Catholic Mass and his mother played piano. Listening to the classic French singers of the time on radio, such as Edith Piaf and Charles...
and Clemence Desrochers. Popular artists of the 70s included Harmonium
Harmonium (band)
Harmonium was a Canadian progressive rock band from Montreal, Quebec.-History:Lead vocalist and guitarist Serge Fiori met Michel Normandeau in a theatre music meeting on November 1972. Later on in 1973 they met bassist Louis Valois and became Harmonium. In November 1973 the group performed their...
, Offenbach
Offenbach (band)
Offenbach is a Quebec blues rock band, initially active from 1969 to 1985. Following a successful reunion tour in 1996, the band released a new album in 2005.-History:...
, Plume Latraverse
Plume Latraverse
Plume Latraverse is a prolific singer, musician, songwriter and author from Quebec. His career spans over 30 years; Latraverse is probably one of the most influential names in Quebec counterculture.-Albums:...
, Garolou
Garolou
Garolou is a French Canadian folk-rock group created in 1975. It was originally called Lougarou, but had to change its name after being sued by a dance troup named Les Loups-garous...
and Beau Dommage
Beau Dommage
Beau Dommage is a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, who achieved popular success in Quebec and France in the 1970s. The group's style included rich vocal harmonies and elements borrowed from folk and country music.-History:...
, as well as Michel Rivard
Michel Rivard
Michel Rivard , is a singer-songwriter and musician from Quebec. He was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. His father was an actor, Robert Rivard...
.
In 1974, Vigneault and Leclerc played on the Plains of Abraham
Plains of Abraham
The Plains of Abraham is a historic area within The Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, that was originally grazing land, but became famous as the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759. Though written into the history books, housing and minor...
with Robert Charlebois
Robert Charlebois
Robert Charlebois, OC, OQ is a Quebec author, composer, musician, performer and actor. He is an important figure in French language song....
, who made heavy use of Quebec French
Quebec French
Quebec French , or Québécois French, is the predominant variety of the French language in Canada, in its formal and informal registers. Quebec French is used in everyday communication, as well as in education, the media, and government....
in his rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
fusions. The 70s also saw roots performers like La Bottine Souriante
La Bottine Souriante
La Bottine Souriante is a folk band from Quebec specialising in traditional Québécois music, often with a modern twist.Formed in 1976, they have toured extensively through North America and Europe. As well as the traditional accordion, fiddle, guitar, piano and double bass, the band added a...
gain critical and commercial acclaim within Quebec. Jim Corcoran
Jim Corcoran
Jim Corcoran is a Canadian singer-songwriter and broadcaster.-Biography:Jim Corcoran was born in Sherbrooke, but went to high school and his obtained his B.A. in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 1960s...
and Bertrand Gosselin released La tête en gigue, an influential album that helped bring Quebec roots to crossover audiences across Canada, the United States and Europe.
In addition to his musical career, Corcoran currently hosts a weekly show on CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English language news and information radio network of the publicly-owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial free and offers both local and national programming...
, which airs Francophone music from Quebec for English audiences across Canada.
The early 1980s saw the formation of francophone Synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
/New wave music
New Wave music
New Wave is a subgenre of :rock music that emerged in the mid to late 1970s alongside punk rock. The term at first generally was synonymous with punk rock before being considered a genre in its own right that incorporated aspects of electronic and experimental music, mod subculture, disco and 1960s...
groups such as Nudimension
Nudimension
Nudimension were a francophone French Canadian New Wave/Synthpop band from Montréal, Canada who were active between 1982 and 1989.Composed of Lead Singer/composer Louie Louie , Non musician Marc Fontaine and - - vocalist Anne Marie Cyr...
that became involved in the genesis of music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
culture.
More recent Quebec performers include Richard Desjardins
Richard Desjardins
Richard Desjardins is a Québécois folk singer and film director. He and his friends formed the country rock ensemble Abbitibbi in the 1970s. Desjardins played piano, guitar, and sang. When the group disbanded in 1982, Desjardins pursued a solo career. He also found work scoring films,...
, Daniel Boucher
Daniel Boucher (musician)
Daniel Boucher is a Québécois musician.Born in Montreal, he has released 3 studio albums up to now, Dix Mille Matins on October 12, 1999, La patente on February 24, 2004 and Le soleil est sorti on November 11, 2008...
, Marie-Chantal Toupin
Marie-Chantal Toupin
Marie-Chantal Toupin is a Canadian musician.She was a 2004 Juno Award nominee for Francophone Album of the Year...
, Éric Lapointe
Éric Lapointe (singer)
Éric Lapointe is one of Québec's most popular francophone lead rock singers. His signature sound is characterized by very strong emotional lyrics, a rich, deep gravelly voice and the virtuoso guitar work by Stéphane Dufour...
, Vilain Pingouin
Vilain Pingouin
Vilain Pingouin is a rock band from Quebec, Canada. The band's name, roughly translated, means "Evil Auk" in English. There have been many changes in the band...
, Mes Aïeux
Mes Aïeux
Mes Aïeux is a folk music group from Quebec, Canada founded in 1996.Although they are labeled as leaders of the "neo-traditional" movement in Quebec, they frequently use subjects and characters from traditional French Canadian folklore in order to approach modern themes with a...
, Les Trois Accords
Les Trois Accords
Les Trois Accords is a rock band from Drummondville, Quebec. The band launched its first album Gros mammouth album in 2003. Some of the notable songs, taken from that album, include "Hawaïenne", "Saskatchewan" and "Lucille". Along with their videos, these songs received heavy exposure in Quebec...
, Kaïn
Kaïn
Kaïn is a folk rock group from the town of Drummondville, Quebec, Canada. The group of four is made up of Steve Veilleux , Yanick Blanchette , Patrick Lemieux and Éric Maheu...
, Dumas
Dumas (singer)
Dumas is a Québécois singer and a native of Victoriaville, Quebec.- Profile :He came out with his first album Dumas en 2001, when he was 21. His second album, Le cours des jours made him more well-known. One song on the Le cours des jours album was sung by Marie-Annick Lépine, from the group Les...
, Les Colocs
Les Colocs
-External links:**Extensive French Wikipedia Les Colocs information***...
, Daniel Bélanger
Daniel Bélanger
Daniel Bélanger is a musician/singer/songwriter. He is considered one of the best Québécois songwriters and singers to emerge in the past 15 years...
, Paul Cargnello
Paul Cargnello
Paul Cargnello is a Canadian singer-songwriter and poet whose unique musical repertoire spans punk rock, reggae, blues and folk. Although English is his first language, Cargnello chooses to write and sing in both English and French, with French having gradually come to dominate his lyrics...
, Laurence Jalbert
Laurence Jalbert
Laurence Jalbert is a Canadian pop singer-songwriter.She began her career with the band Volt in 1985. The band won CKOI-FM's L'Empire des futures stars competition in 1987. They recorded only one single, , before breaking up...
, Rudy Caya, Jean Leloup, Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, Les Stups
Les Stups
Les Stups is a mostly francophone alternative rock band based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, that has formed in 1989.Since their beginnings, we have seen Les Stups and their self-categorized Heavy Plastic on various scenes in the city of Montreal , but also in the provinces of Quebec and Ontario...
, La Chicane
La Chicane
La Chicane is a francophone rock band from Québec, Canada. They performed at the 2003 Toronto Rocks SARS benefit concert.-Past & Present Members:* Dany Bédar, bassist * Martin Bédard, drummer and Dany Bedar brother...
, Dan Bigras
Dan Bigras
Dan Bigras is a francophone rock singer and actor from Canada. He was discovered by Gerry Boulet in 1983, and his first album Ange Animal was released in 1990....
, and Isabelle Boulay
Isabelle Boulay
Isabelle Boulay is a francophone Canadian pop singer.-Biography:In 1990, some friends registered her at the Petite-Vallée song festival without her consent, but she completed a performance there and was regarded as a huge success. The following year she won at the Granby song festival for her...
. Some bands, such as Les Cowboys Fringants
Les Cowboys Fringants
Les Cowboys Fringants are a popular band and cult phenomenon from Quebec, who perform Québécois néo-trad music , the band also draws on Country music. They have gained an international underground following, especially in France, French-speaking Belgium and Switzerland...
have known success in Europe (primarily in France) while Karkwa
Karkwa
-History:Formed in 1998, the group consists of vocalist and guitarist Louis-Jean Cormier, keyboardist François Lafontaine, bass guitarist Martin Lamontagne, percussionist Julien Sagot, and drummer Stéphane Bergeron...
, Vulgaires Machins
Vulgaires Machins
Vulgaires Machins is a French Canadian punk rock group from Granby, Quebec. Formed in 1995, the group consists of Guillaume Beauregard , Marie-Ève Roy , Maxime Beauregard and Patrick Landry ....
and Malajube
Malajube
Malajube is a francophone indie rock band based in Montreal. The band has three albums out on Dare to Care Records.-History:Formed by a group of friends in Montreal, the band made itself known in 2004 with the release of its first album, Le Compte complet. Critics welcomed the disc with positive...
are also recognized elsewhere in Canada.
A hip-hop scene is also present in the Montreal area with groups like Loco Locass
Loco Locass
Loco Locass are a hip hop group from Quebec formed in 1995. The group often defends the role of the French language in Canada, and champions Quebec sovereignty.Loco Locass' lyrics often deal with the role of the French language, and Quebec's role in Canada...
, Sir Pathétik
Sir Pathétik
Raphaël Bérubé known by his stage name Sir Pathétik is a Quebec, Canada rapper originating from Trois-Rivières that has released a number of albums and collborated with many artists earning several best rapper awards from ADISQ....
, Sans Pression, Criollo
Criollo (band)
Criollo is a Montreal-based Latin, Hip hop band.Their music, in the "Bahire" style , draws from Bachata, Hip hop, Reggae, Latin and R&B influences, and is sung in Spanish....
, Atach Tatuq, Manu Militari, KC LMNOP, Imposs
Imposs
S. Rimsky Salgado known by his stage name Imposs is a Canadian rapper of Haitian origin based in Quebec. Before becoming a solo artist, he was part of Muzion, one of the well-known hip hop bands of Quebec. He has collaborated on many occasions with Wyclef Jean during Muzion days and as a solo...
and Muzion
Muzion
Muzion is a rap group based in Quebec, Canada made up of rap artists of Haitian origin. Members of the band came from Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension in Montreal. The band is made up of Dramatik, Imposs and his sister J-Kyll...
.
The metal scene is represented primarily by Sword
Sword (band)
Sword is a Canadian heavy metal band that was active in the 1980s and just announced a reunion for 2011.-History:In the early 80's, south of Montréal in Saint Bruno, Quebec, Rick and Dan Hughes formed a heavy metal band called Sword. They were joined by guitarist Mike Plant and bassist Mike...
, Voivod
Voivod (band)
Voivod are a Canadian heavy metal band from Jonquière, Quebec, Canada. Their musical style has changed several times since the band's origin in the early 1980s...
and death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
bands Cryptopsy
Cryptopsy
Cryptopsy is a Canadian technical death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 1988. The band has sold over 300,000 records.-Necrosis :...
, Kataklysm
Kataklysm
Kataklysm is a Canadian death metal band. They call their musical style "northern hyperblast" after an advertisement in M.E.A.T. magazine describing another band, Fear Factory, as "hyperblast". The term refers to the extremely fast blast beats that Kataklysm's drummer, Max Duhamel, fuses into the...
, Martyr
Martyr (band)
Martyr is a Canadian death metal band from Trois-Rivières, Québec, founded in 1994 by brothers Daniel and François Mongrain.- History :Formed in 1994 by brothers Daniel and François Mongrain , along with Pier-Luc Lampron and François Richard , Martyr recorded a demo tape in September 1995...
, Neuraxis, Gorguts
Gorguts
Gorguts is a technical death metal band from Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The band's only constant member is Luc Lemay.-History:Gorguts were formed in 1989 by Luc Lemay , Sylvain Marcoux , Éric Giguère and Stephane Provencher...
, Quo Vadis
Quo Vadis (band)
Quo Vadis is a technical melodic death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada, formed in 1992 by Bart Frydrychowicz, Yanic Bercier, and Arie Itman and is named after the novel by Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz...
, Despised Icon
Despised Icon
Despised Icon was a Canadian deathcore band from Montreal, Quebec. Formed in 2002, the band is notable for the use of two vocalists; Alexandre Erian, takes use of a mid-range screaming technique, and Steve Marois for the low growling vocals, and high pitched screamed vocals...
, Blackguard
Blackguard (band)
Blackguard is a melodic death metal band from Montréal, Québec, previously known as Profugus Mortis.-Formation :Blackguard was formed in 2001 by guitarist Terry Roadcase and drummer Justine "Juice" Éthier as a straight ahead black metal outfit, the Montreal-based sextet - was originally named...
, Beneath the Massacre
Beneath the Massacre
Beneath the Massacre is a Canadian death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Their debut album, Evidence of Inequity, was released in 2005, under Galy Records. In early 2006, the band signed with Prosthetic Records and has since released their first full-length album, Mechanics of...
, Augury
Augury (band)
Augury is a progressive death metal band from Montreal, Canada who released their debut album, Concealed in September 2004 on Galy Records, and a follow-up, Fragmentary Evidence, in July 2009 on Nuclear Blast Records.-History:...
and many others. Akitsa, Spirit of the Forest, Forteresse and Nefastus Dies
Nefastus Dies
Nefastus Dies is a black/death metal band from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.-History:The band formed in summer 2005 and two months later, released their promo cd 'Prelude'. They then embarked on a promotional tour to support the recording in January 2006. In march 2006 they entered Yannick St-Amand's...
are a few of the black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
bands that have come out of Quebec.
In 2003, TVA
TVA (TV network)
TVA is a privately owned French language television network in Canada. The network is currently owned by Groupe TVA Inc. , a publicly traded subsidiary of Quebecor Media...
began to broadcast Star Académie
Star Académie
Star Académie is a Canadian reality TV series started in 2003, aimed primarily at the Quebec television audience, featuring an array of competing young women and men for the title of the best singer...
, a Québécois version of a French reality music competition
Star Academy
Star Academy is a highly successful television show format based on the Spanish format "Operación Triunfo" produced by Endemol, that has been broadcast in over 50 countries...
, several new artists including Marie-Élaine Thibert
Marie-Élaine Thibert
Marie-Élaine Thibert is a Quebec adult contemporary and pop singer. Thibert was first notable for being the runner-up in the first season of Star Académie in 2003, the Quebec singing idol reality show...
, Marie-Mai
Marie-Mai
Marie-Mai Bouchard also known as her stage name Marie-Mai, is a French Canadian singer from Quebec...
, Émily Begin and Stéphanie Lapointe
Stéphanie Lapointe
Stéphanie Lapointe is a Quebec singer, song writer, television and movie actress and humanitarian activist. She is best known as the winner of the second season of Star Académie, the Quebec version of Fame Academy....
became well-known music artists after their passage in the reality show.
The tensions between Quebec and English Canada have, at times, played out on Quebec's music scene as well. In 1991, Céline Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
won the Félix
Félix Award
The Félix Award is a music award, given on an annual basis to artists in the Canadian province of Quebec.The first Félix awards were presented on September 23, 1979, by the Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois...
award for Best Anglophone Artist for her English-language debut, Unison, but refused it as she did not view herself as an Anglophone artist. After the controversy caused by this incident, Dion has been careful not to clearly declare herself as either federalist
Federalist
The term federalist describes several political beliefs around the world. Also, it may refer to the concept of federalism or the type of government called a federation...
or sovereignist.
Quebec has also produced a number of significant Anglophone artists, including Arcade Fire, Patrick Watson (musician)
Patrick Watson (musician)
Patrick Watson is a Canadian singer-songwriter, and the name of the band which he fronts, whose blend of cabaret pop and classical music influences with indie rock has been compared to Rufus Wainwright, Andrew Bird, Nick Drake, Jeff Buckley and Pink Floyd for their experimental musicianship.-...
, The Dears
The Dears
-History:The band formed in 1995 and released their first album, End of a Hollywood Bedtime Story, in 2000. Their orchestral, dark pop sound and dramatic live shows cemented The Dears at the foundation of the then-emerging Canadian indie renaissance...
, Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a Canadian post-rock band which originated from Montreal, Quebec in 1994...
, Stars, The Stills
The Stills
The Stills were a Canadian rock band from Montreal, Quebec, formed in 2000. The band consists of Tim Fletcher , Dave Hamelin , Olivier Corbeil , and Liam O'Neil , Gregory Paquet .-History:The band members have known each other since the age of...
, The Unicorns
The Unicorns
The Unicorns were a Lo-Fi/Indie Pop band from Montreal, Canada formed in December 2000 by Nicholas Thorburn and Alden Penner , who were later joined by Jamie Thompson in December 2003.-History:...
, Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade
Wolf Parade is an indie rock band formed in 2003 from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band is currently on an indefinite hiatus as of May 31, 2011.-History:...
, Rufus Wainwright
Rufus Wainwright
Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. He has recorded six albums of original music, EPs, and tracks on compilations and film soundtracks.-Early years:...
, Sam Roberts
Sam Roberts
Sam Roberts is a Juno Award-winning Canadian rock singer-songwriter, whose 2001 debut release, The Inhuman Condition, became one of the bestselling independent releases in Quebec and Canadian music history.-Life and career:...
, Paul Cargnello
Paul Cargnello
Paul Cargnello is a Canadian singer-songwriter and poet whose unique musical repertoire spans punk rock, reggae, blues and folk. Although English is his first language, Cargnello chooses to write and sing in both English and French, with French having gradually come to dominate his lyrics...
, We Are Wolves
We Are Wolves
We Are Wolves are a Quebec indie rock band, based in Montreal, consisting of vocalist and bassist Alexander Ortiz, keyboardist/backing vocalist Vincent Levesque and drummer/vocalist Antonin Marquis. The band released their debut album, Non-Stop Je Te Plie en Deux with Fat Possum Records, in 2005...
, The New Cities
The New Cities
The New Cities is a Juno Award and ADISQ Award nominated band originating from Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada and currently based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The current members of The New Cities are David Brown, Christian Bergeron, Nicolas Denis, Francis Fugere, Philippe Lachance, and Julien...
, Chromeo
Chromeo
Chromeo is an electrofunk duo formed in Montreal, Quebec, Canada in 2004.-History:Chromeo is composed of P-Thugg on keyboards, synthesizers, and talk box, and Dave 1 on guitar and lead vocals...
and Simple Plan
Simple Plan
Simple Plan is a Canadian pop punk band from Montréal, Québec. The band has had no line up changes since its inception in 1999. Members are Pierre Bouvier , Jeff Stinco , Sébastien Lefebvre , David Desrosiers and Chuck Comeau...
. In addition, some Quebec artists also included in the 1970s and in the 1980s Lewis Furey
Lewis Furey
Lewis Furey, born Lewis Greenblatt is a Canadian composer, singer, violinist, pianist, actor and director.-Career:Born in Montreal, Quebec to French and American parents, Furey trained as a classical violinist, and at age 11 performed as a soloist in the Matinées pour la jeunesse concert series...
, Leonard Cohen
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen, is a Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963. His work often explores religion, isolation, sexuality and interpersonal relationships...
, Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Kate and Anna McGarrigle
Kate and Anna McGarrigle, were a pair of Canadian singer-songwriters from Quebec, who performed as a duo until Kate McGarrigle's death on January 18, 2010.-Profile:...
, Men Without Hats
Men Without Hats
Men Without Hats is a Canadian New Wave group from Montreal, Quebec. Their music was characterized by the distinctive baritone voice of their lead singer Ivan Doroschuk as well as their elaborate use of synthesizers and electronic processing...
, Norman Iceberg
Norman Iceberg
Norman Joseph Bédard , also known by the former stage names Norman Iceberg and Norman Joseph, is a Canadian singer-songwriter.- Early years: Performing as Norman Iceberg :...
, Rational Youth
Rational Youth
Rational Youth is a Canadian New Wave band, originally formed in 1981 in Montreal, Quebec, by synthesizer wizards Tracy Howe, former singer and drummer for Montreal punk band "The Normals", and Bill Vorn, both of whom idolized the German synthpop pioneers Kraftwerk.Among the band's notable singles...
, Corey Hart, The Box
The Box (band)
The Box is a Canadian New Wave group from Montreal. Founded in 1981, they achieved commercial success in Canada, recording four charting albums and 10 charting singles between 1984 and 1990. The group broke up in 1992, but a new lineup of the band was founded in 2002...
, Gino Vannelli
Gino Vannelli
Gino Vannelli is an Italian-Canadian singer, songwriter, musician and composer.-Early years:Born in Montreal, Quebec, Vannelli is one of three sons born to Russ and Delia Vannelli. Russ, his father, was a big band musician. As a child, Gino's greatest passion was music, and he began playing...
, Jacynthe, France Joli
France Joli
France Joli is a Canadian singer, born 1963, who is best known for the disco classic "Come to Me."-Teen stardom:A native of Montreal, Quebec, Joli grew up in the Montreal suburb of Dorion...
, Sass Jordan
Sass Jordan
Sarah "Sass" Jordan is a Canadian, Juno Award winning, rock singer/songwriter who grew up in Montreal.- Biography :...
and Grimskunk, who have frequently recorded both English and French material.
Jazz music
Oscar Peterson
Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...
, Oliver Jones, Charles Biddle
Charles Biddle
Charles Biddle was a Pennsylvania statesman.His father was William Biddle, 3rd , and mother was Mary Scull ....
, Ranee Lee
Ranee Lee
Ranee Lee, CM is a Canadian jazz vocalist and musician who resides in Montreal, Quebec.Lee toured North America in the 1970s as a jazz drummer and tenor saxophonist. She subsequently landed a starring role playing Billie Holiday in Lady Day, and won a Dora Mavor Moore Award for her performance...
, Karen Young
Karen Young (Canadian singer)
Karen Young is a singer, lyricist, composer and arranger from Quebec, Canada who has explored several different musical styles....
, and Alain Caron
Alain Caron (bass player)
Alain Caron is a French Canadian jazz bassist.The youngest of 11 children, Caron started playing bass at age 11 and began pursuing jazz at age 15...
.
The Montreal International Jazz Festival has been hosted by the city since 1980 and is now the largest jazz festival in the world, attracting huge crowds of visitors each summer, half of which come from outside the country. For the rest of the year, there is an Off festival that organizes jazz shows in bars all over Montreal.
World music
The popularity of World musicWorld music
World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...
is rising. Mostly in the city of Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, well known for its cultural diversity, but also in other regions of Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
.
Classical music
The early part of the 20th century saw growth in operaOpera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
, and the foundation of the Montreal Opera Company in 1910, and opera singers became popular.
Angèle Dubeau
Angèle Dubeau
Angèle Dubeau, CM, CQ is a Québécoise violinist.Dubeau is a graduate and First Prize winner of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. She studied at the Juilliard School of Music with Dorothy DeLay and later went to Romania to work with Ştefan Gheorghiu...
, Louis Lortie
Louis Lortie
Louis Lortie, OC, CQ is a French-Canadian pianist. He currently lives in Berlin.He is known for his interpretation of Ravel, Chopin and Beethoven...
, Alain Lefèvre
Alain Lefèvre
Alain Lefèvre, CQ is a Quebecois pianist and composer. He is one of the Québécois pianists who have sold the greatest number of musical recordings.In 2009, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec....
, Alain Trudel
Alain Trudel
Alain Trudel is a Canadian musician, composer and conductor. He began his career playing the trombone, but has more recently turned to conducting....
, Alexandre Da Costa
Alexandre Da Costa
-Life and career:Da Costa was born in Montreal Canada in 1979. He received a Master’s degree in violin in 1998 and a First Prize from the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec. From 1998 to 2001, he studied at the Escuela Superior de Música Reina Sofia in Madrid with his mentor Zakhar Bron. In 2002,...
, Marc-André Hamelin
Marc-André Hamelin
Marc-André Hamelin, OC, CQ, is a French Canadian virtuoso pianist and composer.Born in Montreal, Quebec, Marc-André Hamelin began his piano studies at the age of five. His father, a pharmacist by trade who was also a pianist, introduced him to the works of Alkan, Godowsky, and Sorabji when he was...
, Nathalie Choquette and Richard Verreau
Richard Verreau
Richard Verreau, was a French-Canadian operatic tenor, particularly associated to the French and Italian repertories.-Biography:...
are top classical musicians from Quebec at the present.
André Mathieu
André Mathieu
André Mathieu was a Québécois pianist and composer. Mathieu was born in Montreal, Quebec on February 18, 1929, in the parish of Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur.-Biography:...
is among the most renowned composers from the province. He has been compared to a ‘little Canadian Mozart’, and Rachmaninov pronounced him, "a genius, more so than I am". His works became the official music of the Summer Olympics of 1976. Other famous composers are Claude Champagne
Claude Champagne
Claude Champagne was a Canadian composer.Born in Montreal, Quebec, he studied violin with Albert Chamberland, organ with Orpha-F. Deveaux, and piano with Romain-Octave Pelletier I and Alexis Contant at the Conservatoire national de musique. In 1921 he went straight to Paris to study music...
, Calixa Lavallée
Calixa Lavallée
Calixa Lavallée, , born Calixte Lavallée, was a French-Canadian-American musician and Union officer during the American Civil War who composed the music for O Canada, which officially became the national anthem of Canada in 1980.-Biography:Calixa Lavallée was born at Verchères, a suburb of...
and Pierre Mercure
Pierre Mercure
Pierre Mercure is , Canadian composer, TV producer, bassoonist, administrator. Premier prix Harmony, Counterpoint, Deuxième prix bassoon 1949. His main composition teacher was Claude Champagne...
, among others.
Quebec and France
Both nations have influenced each other in terms of music styles. In the last few years, Quebec singers have been taking the French stage quite extensively. Quebec singers that have performed in France included: Céline DionCeline Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, Garou
Garou (singer)
Garou , from the French expression "loup-garou", which means "werewolf" and is a transformation of "Garand", his last name; is a Canadian singer from Sherbrooke, Quebec. He is known for his work in the musical Notre-Dame de Paris and the #1 hits "Belle", "Seul", "Sous le vent", and "La Rivière de...
, Anthony Kavanagh
Anthony Kavanagh
Anthony KAVANAGH is a Canadian stand up comedian, actor, singer, tv host. After a successful career on the francophone stand-up scene in Quebec, he became a major star in France, where he is now a popular television host.- Early life :Anthony Kavanagh was born to Haitian parents on September 26,...
(a stand up comedian), Isabelle Boulay
Isabelle Boulay
Isabelle Boulay is a francophone Canadian pop singer.-Biography:In 1990, some friends registered her at the Petite-Vallée song festival without her consent, but she completed a performance there and was regarded as a huge success. The following year she won at the Granby song festival for her...
, Bruno Pelletier
Bruno Pelletier
Bruno Pelletier , is a francophone Quebecer singer.-Life:Pelletier was born in Charlesbourg, a suburb of Quebec City. In 1983 Pelletier performed in the bands Amanite and Sneak Preview, which sang in English. He later started a group called Pëll, singing in French. At 23 years old, he moved to...
, Linda Lemay and many others.
Roch Voisine
Roch Voisine
Joseph Armand Roch Voisine, OC better known as Roch Voisine, is a Canadian Acadian singer-songwriter, actor, and radio and television host...
and Natasha St-Pier
Natasha St-Pier
Natasha St Pier is a Canadian pop singer.-Career:Natasha St Pier released her first album, Émergence, in 1996, produced by composer/producer Steve Barakatt...
are two artists who also perform in France and are often mistaken for Quebecers. They are actually from New Brunswick and are of Acadian heritage, like Daniel Lavoie
Daniel Lavoie
Daniel Lavoie is a Canadian singer–songwriter.Lavoie was born in Dunrea, Manitoba, Canada. His mother was a musician and he learned to play piano at a young age...
who is from Manitoba
Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...
.
Musicals
Few musicals were made or adapted by Quebec artists. Among them, Luc Plamondon has had the brightest career as a song writer, writing for the big ones (Céline Dion, Garou). The main musicals 'made in Quebec' : Starmania, La Légende de Jimmy, Notre-Dame-de-Paris, Chicago (adapted into French), "Demain matin, Montréal m'attend", Dracula.Le Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du SoleilCirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...
has always developed its own musical pieces to go along with various acrobatic tricks. The music aspect of the shows is essential as it sets a mood to every single performance and links one number to another.
See also
- Culture of QuebecCulture of QuebecThe Culture of Quebec emerged over the last few hundred years, resulting from the shared history of the French-speaking majority in Quebec. It is unique to the Western World; Quebec is the only region in North America with a French-speaking majority, as well as one of only two provinces in Canada...
- French-Canadian musicFrench-Canadian musicFrench settlers brought music with them when inhabiting what is now Quebec and other areas throughout Canada. Since the arrival of French music in Canada, there has been much intermixing with the Celtic music of Anglo-Canada....
- List of Quebec musicians
- List of Quebec record labels