Schulich School of Music is in the midst of a second nomadic concert season, providing music lovers with a chance to discover new venues as well as up-and-coming talent.
Though it is still making use of McGill’s own spaces, including Redpath Hall, the Multimedia Room and Tanna Schulich Hall, the Schulich School is without its largest venue until this fall as Pollack Hall undergoes major renovations. In the meantime, the many different types of shows must go on!
With one roving season under its belt, the Schulich School has succeeded in connecting even more deeply with Montreal’s cultural scene – notably the Maisons de la culture network – and with broader audiences.
“While the renovation of Pollack Hall presented challenges, it also created valuable opportunities,” said Danielle Gaudry, Chair of the Performance Department and artistic director and conductor of the McGill Wind Orchestra.
“Performing across the city allowed our students to experience a wide range of acoustics and artistic settings, from historic churches to some of Montreal’s most iconic venues, some in neighbourhoods they might not otherwise have explored,” said Gaudry.
“As someone fairly new to Montreal, performing in different venues across the city has given me the opportunity to visit neighborhoods and dine in restaurants I otherwise possibly wouldn’t have, while sharing music and performing outreach with communities outside of Schulich,” said Brittany Barry, a student conductor undertaking doctoral studies in Music.
Affordable operas, symphonies and jazz
For the 2025-2026 season, offerings and locations are even more diverse than during the last academic year. Students are performing in some of the best concert spaces in Montreal, including the Maison symphonique, the Église Saint-Jean-Baptiste and the beautiful, but lesser-known Salle Marguerite-Bourgeois, in Ahuntsic.
“By embracing the city as our stage, we were able to sustain the level of artistic and pedagogical excellence that defines the Schulich School of Music,” said Gaudry.
At the end of the month, Opera McGill and the McGill Symphony Orchestra are presenting Benjamin Britten’s The Rape of Lucretia at the Monument-National. Opera McGill will also have a March performance with the McGill Baroque Orchestra: Handel’s Alcina, at Théâtre Paradoxe. The two shows each have a $40 ticket price, considerably less than regular opera productions.
On Valentine’s Day, the McGill Symphony Orchestra will feature three of the School’s award-winning students as concerto soloists and an original composition by a fourth at Salle Pierre-Mercure.
Noteworthy in April is a chance to see the McGill Symphony Orchestra, the Schulich Singers and the McGill University Chorus take the stage at the Maison symphonique.
It’s also a good time to be a jazz lover: there are weekly free jazz combos to choose from – including at Upstairs Bar – as well as performances by the McGill Chamber Jazz Ensembles and McGill Jazz Orchestras.
Recording experience and accessibility
Concerts are not the only activity affected by the renovation work on Pollack Hall. Repercussions also have been felt by the School’s Sound Recording program. Again, faculty and students are making the most of the situation.
“For students in our Master’s in Sound Recording, recording performances in a variety of venues offers invaluable hands-on learning opportunities,” noted Richard King, Professor of Sound Recording.
“Working in different acoustic and technical environments helps them develop the versatility and adaptability required in today’s audio industry.”
In addition to recording as a field of study, it is also a means of rendering works accessible to diverse audiences – something that the Schulich School of Music takes very seriously. While presenting affordable concerts at diverse venues allows new audiences to discover live music, the School’s live webcasts and posting of concerts on its YouTube channel are also important means of ensuing accessibility.