During the Opus Awards annual Gala held on February 8 at Bourgie Hall in Montréal, the Molinari Quartet received two Opus Prizes, their 29th and 30th! Their CD recording of Luciano Berio’s complete string quartets continues to receive prizes and recognition. After the Abbiatti del disco 2025 Prize and a Diapason d’or, the recording was awarded the Album of the Year Prize in the Modern – contemporary music category. Also the December 14th 2024 concert Nocturnes was awarded the Concert of the Year prize in the Modern – contemporary music category. The Molinaris performed works by Bartok, Berio and Kurtag during that concert. Congratulations to all the winners and finalists of the 29th Opus prize Gala ! Many thanks to ATMA Classique for its confidence and to our loyal public who follows us for 29 years now! Many thanks to the Quiebec Music Council for these prizes and for its unwavering support of live classical music.

Lors du Gala des Prix Opus qui s’est tenu dimanche le 8 février à la salle Bourgie, le Quatuor Molinari a remporté deux Prix Opus, ses 29e et 30e !  Le CD de l’intégrale des quatuors à cordes de Luciano Berio du Quatuor Molinari continue de récolter les prix et reconnaissances. Après le Prix Abbiatti del disco 2025 et un Diapason d’or, c’est le Prix Opus de l’Album de l’année – musiques moderne et contemporaine, qui est décerné à cet enregistrement.   Le concert Nocturnes du 14 décembre 2024 au cours duquel le Molinari a joué des œuvres de Kurtág, de Berio et de Bartók a quant à lui remporté le Prix Opus  du Concert de l’année – musiques moderne et contemporaine.  Félicitations à tous les lauréats et finalistes des 29e prix Opus.   Merci à ATMA Classique pour sa confiance et à notre cher et fidèle public qui nous suit depuis 29 ans!  Merci au Conseil québécois de la musique pour ces prix et aussi pour son engagement indéfectible au soutien de la musique de concert. 

The Molinari Quartet is very proud to have received four nominations as finalist for the Opus Prizes 2024-25. The two most recent Molinari Quartet CD’s, the complete string quartets by Luciano Berio and the complete string quartets by Giacinto Scelsi were each selected as finalists in the category Album of the year – Modern, contemporary music. Two of the four concerts in the Twentieth and Beyond series have also been nominated as finalists. The Winners’ of the 9th International Composition Competition Concert which was held on September 27 2024 and the December 14 2024 concert entitled Nocturnes are finalists in the category Concert of the year – Modern, contemporary music. The Opus Prize Gala will take place on February 8th 2026 at Bourgie Hall. The ceremony has become Quebec’s annual gathering of the artists and artisans of the musical industry. You can purchase tickets for the event by following this link. The gala will also be live streamed on the Facebook page of the Conseil québécois de la musique.  

The Molinari Quartet’s 2025–26 autumn season marks both a new beginning and the continuation of its major projects. The QM musicians enthusiastically welcome a new member, violist Cynthia Blanchon, whose extensive experience as a chamber musician will be an asset to the ensemble. The Molinari’s 29th season will be filled with masterpieces for string quartet, including the presentation of Shostakovich’s complete quartet cycle, which could not be held last May and is rescheduled for May 2026. The first concert of the season will take place on Tuesday, 7 October at 7:30 p.m. at the Conservatoire de Montréal. Entitled ‘Passages,’ this concert will feature two great masters of the 20th-century string quartet, Dmitri Shostakovich and Béla Bartók, as well as French composer André Boucourechliev. On Friday, 5 December at 7:30 p.m., the second concert of the season, ‘Canadian Rhythms’, will feature three Canadian works with lively rhythms. You will hear Dark Energy by composer Kelly-Marie Murphy, R. Murray Schafer’s 4th Quartet, and the premiere of Blair Thomson’s Internesses. As usual, the two autumn concerts will be preceded by informative Dialogues sur le Plateau at the Maison de la culture Plateau Mont-Royal, 465 Mont-Royal Avenue East. These activities allow the public to familiarise themselves with the works on the programme of the Vingtième et plus series of concerts held at the Conservatoire. The Dialogues will take place on 21 September at 2 p.m. and 2 December at 7:30 p.m. Admission is free. The Molinari Quartet continues its collaboration with the Guido Molinari Foundation with the presentation of the Music to See series of concerts. The fall concert will take place on Sunday, 2 November at 3 p.m., and the musicians will perform R. Murray Schafer’s Quartet No. 1, Dmitri Shostakovich’s Quartet No. 12, and the premiere of Denis Dion’s Coin Darling, a work in tribute to Guido Molinari. The concert will take place in the heart of the exhibition I am here by the renowned artist Irene F. Whittome. This exhibition will bring together works spanning sixty years of artistic practice. Tickets are sold at the door for $20. The Guido Molinari Foundation is located at 3290 Sainte-Catherine Street East in Montreal. Full details of all the concerts are available in the Calendar section of the website.