OFF still on as Festival des harmonies ends
The 90th edition of the Festival des harmonies et orchestres symphoniques du Québec came to a close this weekend on the campus of the Université de Sherbrooke. More than 8,000 students from across the province came out to participate in the event, sharing their passion for music in front of friends, family, judges, and the general public.
“The Festival des harmonies et des orchestres symphoniques du Québec, offers a great opportunity to the people of Sherbrooke and to tourists to discover the musical universe of the artists who come to participate in this great assembly,” said Provincial Tourism Minister Caroline Proulx earlier this month while announcing $32,000 in financial aid for the festival. “The participation of thousands of musicians and spectators will certainly help the Eastern Townships to
shine.”
Close to $17,000 worth of bursaries was handed out to different participating musicians to support their ongoing development.
Although the Festival des harmonies et orchestres symphoniques is now over, music-lovers need not be heartbroken as the parallel OFF Festival programming of free concerts around downtown Sherbrooke continues until June 2.
"Over the years, the OFF Festival des harmonies has become a key event for Sherbrooke musicians, who have made it their own and are always happy to take part," said Jean-marie Messier, Executive Director of the Corporation du Printemps musical which organizes the two events.
The OFF Festival showcases the wealth of musical talent and ensembles in the Sherbrooke area, and encourages musicians to share their music with the public. The 16th OFF Festival will run until June 2, 2019 and this year’s lineup features more than 60 musicians.
The 2019 program includes 21 dinner concerts at four restaurants, three concerts at indoor venues, 32 outdoor concerts on the Lac-des-nations Boardwalk, 29 concerts at 11 health care centres and 80 introductory music workshops in elementary schools across Sherbrooke.
The full schedule of remaining shows in the OFF festival can be found online a t http://www.festivaldesharmonies.com/o FF under the “programmation” tab.