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Juno award winner for Classical Album of the Year (Large Ensemble): Maxime Goulet (@maxime.goulet) in the Q&A Room at the JUNO Opening Night Awards in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This video is only available for editorial use in all media and worldwide. To ensure compliance and proper licensing of this video, please contact us. ©MaximoTV
Juno award winner for Classical Album of the Year (Large Ensemble): Maxime Goulet (@maxime.goulet) in the Q&A Room at the JUNO Opening Night Awards in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This video is only available for editorial use in all media and worldwide. To ensure compliance and proper licensing of this video, please contact us. ©MaximoTV
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00:00 So, we're happy about that.
00:05 Actually, thank you for getting this wrong.
00:08 This gives me the opportunity to say this proudly, and I'm really proud to say it.
00:12 Alright. Well, congratulations, and thank you for correcting me.
00:15 Yeah, no worries.
00:16 So, how does it feel to win your first award?
00:18 It feels great, actually. It was so unexpected. I almost didn't come here.
00:22 It was a last minute thing, and I just brought my one-year-old kid.
00:25 Actually, my kid turned one-year-old yesterday.
00:27 I cannot miss her birthday, so I just bring her along with my wife and my mother-in-law,
00:32 and we just say, "We're going to have fun anyway, whatever happens."
00:35 So, wow. I mean, it's great.
00:37 And I have to ask, because I feel like someone else is going to if I don't.
00:41 Where is your bow tie from?
00:43 The Internet.
00:45 Isn't there where everything comes from?
00:47 Yes, indeed.
00:49 So, I'll open it up.
00:51 So, people who are far away, it's a Lego bow tie, and you can actually connect pieces,
00:54 so I can customize it depending on where I go.
00:56 It's a great conversation starter, and it's like I said, when you don't know anyone.
00:59 Yes, Eric Parazelli, French education?
01:04 Yes, yes.
01:06 So, the Verglas storm, we all remember it.
01:10 It was a rather special event.
01:13 And to make it an inspiration for a symphony, it was quite bold.
01:18 I was wondering how it inspired you,
01:21 and how you got the inspiration for this event.
01:27 Do I answer in French or in English?
01:30 In French, it would be appreciated.
01:33 Great.
01:34 So, I was 17 at the time of the Verglas storm,
01:37 and for those who don't know, it was a mega storm that hit not only Quebec,
01:41 but also Ontario, Vermont, and the state of New York.
01:44 So, it was really something major.
01:46 And this symphony was also to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Verglas storm,
01:52 because it was in 1997.
01:54 And I did a lot of projects with the Montreal Classical Orchestra,
01:58 at the time it was called the McGill Chamber Orchestra,
02:00 and the conductor, Boris Brott.
02:02 The album, by the way, there are three pieces on the album,
02:04 "Histoire de pêche" and "Toute une journée" as well,
02:06 and they are all pieces that were commissioned by the Classical Orchestra.
02:08 This piece in particular, this Verglas storm,
02:10 is a co-commission of five orchestras.
02:12 So, co-commission of five orchestras.
02:14 And Boris Brott was saying,
02:17 "Ah, we're doing a lot of small pieces with you,
02:19 it would be fun to do a major piece."
02:21 I've always wanted to do a symphony,
02:24 and I was going to be 40,
02:25 and I thought it would be a perfect project for the 40s.
02:28 So, a kind of challenge that I started,
02:31 and I said, "Try to find a theme,
02:32 maybe something related to the environment."
02:34 And I just finished writing my opera "Fly Down the Rammenburg",
02:36 which talks about climate change.
02:38 I didn't want to tackle the subject in the same way.
02:39 I had the idea, "Ah, the Verglas storm is interesting,"
02:42 because that's when I realized for the first time
02:44 how fragile the environment is,
02:47 and we are vulnerable, we depend on our environment.
02:49 If things don't go well in the environment,
02:51 things don't go well for us.
02:52 So, it was a theme that I found interesting to tackle,
02:54 and to go deeper.
02:55 And the symphony is a bit like a novel.
03:00 So, it's something that's still quite long,
03:02 and it allows us to have a lot of time
03:03 to develop ideas and themes.
03:05 There are four themes.
03:06 The first movement is "Torment",
03:07 so it's the arrival of the storm,
03:08 where everyone is writing a murderous lie.
03:10 The second movement is "Shut Up",
03:12 and it pays homage to the welcoming side of Quebeckers
03:17 who have helped each other,
03:18 a neighbor who had a power plant that was welcoming someone, all that.
03:21 The third movement is "Night, Dark, and Day",
03:23 so it's the dark nights without light pollution,
03:25 where you can see the beautiful light sky.
03:27 It was beautiful, it was mysterious, but it was frightening.
03:29 The last movement is "Light",
03:30 it's the return of electricity,
03:31 it's the return of energy, of life,
03:33 which takes its turn in a kind of crescendo of positive energy at the end.
03:37 - OK, thank you very much.
03:38 - My pleasure.
03:39 - I presume.
03:39 - We got one more question.
03:41 (whooshing)