The Montreal en lumiere festival reveals its lineup for

The Montreal en lumiere festival reveals its lineup for February 2012


As recently announced, Beatrice Martin, better known to her fans as Coeur de Pirate, will keep riding the momentum generated by her second album, Blonde, with a Feb. 24 appearance at Metropolis as part of the next Montreal en lumiere Festival. But there’ll be plenty more must-see shows on the schedule, organizers promised as they revealed their 13th lineup on Nov. 29, 2011.

Belgium and its Brussels and Wallonia regions are being celebrated at the 2012 festival, formerly known as the High Lights Festival. The geographical link provides an opportunity for Belgian hip-hop and electro singer Stromae to also try his hand at filling up Metropolis on Feb. 23. Festival organizers say they expect a repeat of the buzz created by Stromae’s set at the FrancoFolies in June.

If electro is not your style, you can’t go far wrong with The Rat Pack Is Back on Feb. 18. The performance is a recreation of the boozy live collaborations of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Joey Bishop. The skits and hits are designed to make the Theatre Maisonneuve feel a bit like Vegas, where the four late legends once held court and where this tribute show has been running for 13 years. (Clearly, not everything in the festival needs a Belgian connection.)

Brussels harmonica legend Toots Thielemans, a Montreal favourite, opens the festival at the Maisonneuve Feb. 16 with pianist Kenny Werner. By then, he’ll be only a couple of months away from his 90th birthday.

Thielemans is also an honorary co-president of the event’s artistic program, as is singer-songwriter Luc De Larochelliere, who closes the festival Feb. 26 with a tribute to Jacques Brel at the Maison Symphonique de Montreal. A dozen singers, including Marc Hervieux, Marie Elaine Thibert, Diane Tell, Pierre Flynn, Bruno Pelletier and Bia, will help him out.

Bia will be part of the Primeurs Sun Life Financial Series at L’Astral with a concert on Feb. 16. Tell (Feb. 20), France D’Amour (Feb. 21) and guitar god Al Di Meola (Feb. 23 and 24) are also in the series.

The Tendances Sun Life Financial Series at Club Soda adopts a rockier attitude, with Theophilus London back on Feb. 18 to recreate the jazz-fest buzz he left behind this year, as well as Catherine Major (Feb. 16 and 17), Antoine Gratton (Feb. 21), the Barr Brothers (Feb. 22), Brigitte Boisjoli paying tribute to Dolly Parton and Tina Turner (Feb. 23) and the redoubtable Arthur H (Feb. 24).

Other attractions include Jorane and the Orchestre I Musici de Montreal (Gesu, Feb. 25), Constantinople (Salle Pierre-Mercure of Centre Pierre-Peladeau, Feb. 20) and Colectivo, with the Hangers and the Thundermonks, offering a ska-inflected celebration at Le National on Feb. 24.

And there’s plenty more, including flamenco, salsa and classical music, plus dance, theatre, circus arts and puppets.

The 13th edition of the Montreal en lumiere festival runs from Feb. 16 to 26, 2012. Tickets for most shows go on sale Dec. 3, 2011, at noon. Subscribers to the Spectra Infolettre can purchase tickets starting Nov. 30, 2011, as soon as they receive the latest issue of the newsletter.

The free official program is available at Renaud-Bray and SAQ outlets, as well as at participating music stores, theatres and restaurants.
The schedule of free outdoor events will be announced Feb. 1, 2012 and the All-Nighter program will be revealed Feb. 7, 2012.


http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/Coeur+pirate+Stromae+light+festival+arts+program/5787036/story.html

Pour clore en beauté cette édition consacrée à la Belgique, on ne pouvait passer à côté du peut-être plus célèbre représentant de notre pays à l’honneur ! Et parce que cet immortel façonnait des chansons si puissantes qu’elles prenaient toute leur ampleur dans le plus grand dépouillement scénique, on a adopté un concept, audacieux dans sa simplicité, qui donnerait aussi toute la place aux chansons : un piano, une voix, c’est tout. Une dizaine d’artistes menés par notre coprésident d’honneur Luc De Larochellière viendront ainsi rendre tour à tour un hommage par ces titres inoubliables que le grand poète nous a légués. Un rendez-vous avec l’émotion dans cette magnifique nouvelle salle !
Avec Luc De Larochellière, Marc Hervieux, Marie-Élaine Thibert, Paul Piché, Diane Tell, Pierre Flynn, Bruno Pelletier, Bïa, Pierre Lapointe et plusieurs autres, ainsi que Benoît Sarrasin au piano.