“In the third of my interviews devoted to exploring music in Canada [previously, I chatted to Alexander Shelley, music director of the NAC Orchestra, see article, and cellist/composer Margaret Maria and soprano Donna Brown, see article], I chat to Canadian-based, Serbian-born composer Ana Sokolović. Ana has been the artistic director of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) since early 2022. From 23 February to 5 March 2023, SMCQ will present the 11th edition of Montreal/New Musics (MNM), one of North America’s largest new music festivals. SMCQ is in fact one of the oldest contemporary music societies in North America and the oldest in Canada. It is notable for being founded by composers, and the artistic director has always been a composer. Ana is perhaps best known in the UK for her opera Svadba (The Wedding), which was performed by Waterperry Opera Festival last year.
SMCQ wasn’t just created to produce concerts, the idea was that people could meet, think and talk about music and contribute to the musical world. Prior to that, in Canada, there were sporadic contemporary music events but nothing that was taking care of new music exclusively. This year will be SMCQ’s 56th season. In fact, both Ana’s predecessors were composers and conductors; Ana’s predecessor, the Canadian composer Walter Boudreau, conducts a major premiere at this year’s MNM. Though Ana hastens to add that she is not a conductor…”
