The Artistic Inauguration of the new Cammac four seasons
lodge and the Lucy Concert Hall, a $5.5 Million Green
Architecture project, took place on June 25th,
at Lake MacDonald, Harrington.
Claire Gaudet, Communications Director of Cammac,
welcomed us to the press conference, explaining the project.
Then, with his usual panache, Raymond Sealey, Executive
Director of Cammac, talked about the many unique features of the building along with a visual
presentation, and gave a guided tour of the facilities, through
stairways giving a glimpse of the roof gardens which were
seeded with chives. The central stairwell has Light
fixtures made by the architects as a gift to Cammac.
The lodge now has an elevator, four rooms specially
designed for handicapped persons, and family rooms. The
rooms are sound insulated, there is a library, sun rooms on
both floors, and the Bartok young people's hangout space is
downstairs. The visit was followed by a traditional
sumptuous Cammac brunch and the first concert at Lucy
Hall. It was a festive and auspicious event.
Walking towards the entrance, the visitor is invited to the
world of music through a beautifully landscaped space
featuring the magnificent stone sculpture installation
Oratorio Laurentien, by
Jean Fabb, about which Raymond Sealey commented “We
finally have Rock at Cammac!” The work is comprised of
rock groupings symbolic of the musical terms: Duo, Trio,
Quartet and Solo, with sand-blasted text dealing with
rhythm, harmony, melody, songbirds, the heart, silence and
lots more.
CAMMAC Music Camp is a
unique place for learning and making music. All efforts
were made to preserve the look and feel of the old (1953)
lodge, the screened balcony of the old dining room, windows
and doors were recycled. Thus, it feels as if nothing has
changed.
The new four seasons lodge is a green architecture project
aiming for LEED “gold” certification, conceived and directed
by PhD Architecture, Box Architecture and Bosses Design, and
the engineering firm Martin Roy et Associés. Several
innovative elements are included in the construction:
geothermal heat exchangers in the lake (See foghorn
by the entrance, another one is in the lawn by the lake),
vegetal roofs, recycling of gray and hot
(shower)
water, waste water treatment with reed beds, natural
ventilation, use of passive solar energy, and water
purification by means of ultraviolet rays. All these
innovations are controlled by an impressive array of
equipment in the control room. The building also has a
propane-operated generator, which makes the lodge fully
operational in case of emergency.
The First Concert at Lucy Hall:
Following a standing ovation, Mr. Sealey extended
Cammac’s gratitude to the architects, contractors, and
builders, the Staff, Board and members of Cammac; and the
donors and financial partners who helped bring this
wonderful project to its conclusion. Mr. Elias Kulukundis named the concert
space Lucy Hall in memory of his late wife. Mr. Sealey
acknowledged Stanley Aléong’s gift which enabled the purchase of
the new concert piano, in collaboration with Yamaha Canada
and Pianos Héritage. The main government partners and
public institutions: the Government of Quebec, the Quebec
Ministry of Culture and Communications, the Federal
Government, Canada Economic Development Agency, as well as
regional partners, MRC d’Argenteuil, Caisse Populaire
Desjardins d’Argenteuil, CLD d’Argenteuil, Conseil de la
Culture des Laurentides, Association Touristique des
Laurentides, and many others.
The first concert was dedicated to the
late Jan Simons, the vocal pedagogue, who taught at Cammac
for over fifty years. Lyne Fortin, one of Canada’s best
known sopranos, gave the opening concert, accompanied by
pianist Pierre McLean. The recital program included the
music of Mozart, Haydn, Canteloube, Brahams, and Chausson.
Both musicians kept the audience transfixed from the first
note onwards. They really filled the hall with the joy
of music. The sound of Pierre McLean’s piano playing was
marvellous! At times he made the piano sound like a harp.
I simply did not want him to stop. The voice of Lyne
Fortin, exquisite! Her choice of music, wonderful! Give me lots of Mozart any time! They received a standing
ovation and gave beautiful encores. The concert was
recorded by
Espace Musique
(100.7 FM), Radio-Canada’s music network it will be
broadcast during the
Saturday afternoon Opera hours.
As in the past years, Cammac features a series of Sunday
Brunch concerts. It would be worth your while to attend at
least one of them to combine a visit to the new building,
listen to a concert in the new bright Lucy Hall, and have a
relaxing meal afterwards. Until
August 18th, there are
also free Friday night faculty concerts, which start at 8:45
p.m. Call for information: 1-888-622-8755 or (819)
687-3938.
national@cammac.ca www.cammac.ca
Until August 20th, Sunday Brunch
Concert 11:00 a.m. ($15) followed by brunch ($10 children
$5). New
this year: Public and adapted transportation - available
from Lachute by calling (450) 562-5797.
July 2nd : Summer Melodies - a voice
recital.
July 9th: Deux Ex Machina - medieval
music (chant)
July 16th: Franz Joseph Quartet -
Chamber Music, selection of baroque and classical works.
July 23rd: Bozzini Quartet,
Works by Schubert, Mozart and Shostakovich.
July 30th: Bestiaire - Twelve singers and three
dancers - geared toward children between the ages of four
and twelve years of age. The combination of a capella
choral works and contemporary dance will be sure to please
the young and not so young alike. Conceived by Genevière
Dussault and François Ouimet, it draws from the repertoire
of Ravel, Janequin, Rimski-Korsakov, etc.
August 6th: Kaba Horo Originally from Bulgaria,
virtuoso guitarist and composer Lubo Alexandrov has created
a unique musical style by mixing traditional Bulgarian,
Turkish, and Gypsy music.
August 13th: Claire Marchand and Jennifer Swartz
- Flutist Claire Marchand and harpist Jennifer Swartz will
present a program incorporating classical and contemporary
works, including: Debussy, Ravi Shankar, Jolivet, Takemitsu,
Flothuis among others.
August 20th: Tristan Longval-Gagné, Pianist will
play music by Bartok, Rachmaninov, Bach and others.
