Wednesday, May 24, 2023 – A few days after the closing night of the 39th Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville, which took place from May 15 to 21, 2023, the team is proud to announce that this edition was a resounding success!
An Even Bigger Audience Than Before the Pandemic
After three pandemic years (event cancelled in 2020, reduced and featuring only Canadian performers in 2021, almost but not quite normal in 2022), the public was treated to a powerful FIMAV that proved to be as relevant as ever. Festival-goers were in such large numbers that we recorded a significant increase in concert hall attendance, 15% more than the 36th FIMAV in 2019. We are overjoyed by the fact that the festival not only regained, but surpassed its pre-pandemic appeal! An avid and very enthusiastic audience was thrilled by the concerts on offer. Unparalleled energy was palpable in the halls, and emotions ran high both on stage and in the audience. We will be hearing about this landmark edition for a long time. Several concerts concluded with standing ovations and warm thanks to the artists.
Sound Art Installations: New Attendance Record
Not only were attendees back in the concert halls, but they were also back on our circuit of sound art installations in public spaces. A new attendance record has been set: over 15,000 people visited the ten works exhibited in as many places (Centre d’art Jacques-et-Michel-Auger, Bibliothèque Charles-Édouard-Mailhot, rue de la Gare, Gérald Musique showcase and various spots at Place Sainte-Victoire). The works attracted people of all ages, and that record was achieved despite having to close the outdoor sound art installations on Tuesday, May 16, due to very hostile weather (cold and relentlessly rainy), leading to the cancellation of ten school groups booked for guided tours, as well as snow on Wednesday, May 17.
Tributes for Michel Levasseur and Joanne Vézina
Artists were thanked many times for their breathtaking performances, and they showed a lot of gratitude towards FIMAV’s general manager and artistic director, Michel Levasseur, for whom this was the last edition. Ikue Mori dedicated the last piece of her concert to him, Fred Frith thanked him at length during his encore, and John Zorn hugged him on stage. Then, just before the last concert of the 39th FIMAV 2023, administrative manager Joanne Vézina took the stage alongside Michel Levasseur so that the public and the FIMAV team could show them their gratitude with a thunderous standing ovation that went on for several minutes. A touching end to a landmark edition that people will be talking about for a long time.
Wednesday, 19 April 2023 – At the invitation of Mrs. Danielle Croteau, arts and culture coordinator at the Recreation, Culture and Community Department of the City of Victoriaville, the communications director of the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV), Jordie Vézina Levasseur, has curated an exhibition entitled « FIMAV IN THE PREVIOUS CENTURY » with graphic designer Isabelle Beaumier. The exhibition, presented on De la Gare Street from the 15th of May to the 27th of August 2023, focuses on the period going from the 1st edition of FIMAV in 1983 until the 16th edition in 1999, with photos by Sylvain Lafleur and Tim Morozzo.
Sylvain Lafleur was the festival’s official photographer from the event’s inception until the turn of the century, with the exception of the 1997 and 1999 editions. Sadly, Mr. Lafleur is no longer with us, and the FIMAV team wishes to pay tribute to him with this exhibition.
Tim Morozzo, who took over from Sylvain Lafleur for the 14th and 16th editions, in 1997 and 1999, is a Scotsman whom FIMAV general manager and artistic director Michel Levasseur had met while living in Scotland in the late 1970s. Mr. Morozzo, a fan of music and travel as well as a professional arts photographer, crossed the ocean twice to immortalize FIMAV concerts.
The 25 photos that will be displayed have been selected from an extensive archive of the festival’s first two decades. The public will be able to admire « FIMAV IN THE PREVIOUS CENTURY » starting May 15, 2023, the day the 39th FIMAV will open its circuit of sound art installations in public spaces. Two sound art installations will be presented on De la Gare Street: Manon Labrecque’s « des oscillations » and Ariane Plante’s « La cosmogonie des sons : variations nocturnes ».
For more information on the « FIMAV IN THE PREVIOUS CENTURY » exhibition, please contact Jordie Vézina Levasseur, FIMAV’s communications director. To find out more about our sound art installations in public spaces circuit and all the events to be presented at the 39th FIMAV 2023, click here.
Victoriaville, April 12, 2023 – The team of the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) is unveiling today the programming for the 39th edition’s circuit of sound art installations in public spaces and visual arts exhibition.
10 sound art installations in public spaces
The sound art installation circuit is free of charge and open from Monday the 15th to Sunday the 21st of May 2023, between 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. This year, it will feature ten works displayed in as many locations in downtown Victoriaville. Érick d’Orion, our sound art installations and visual arts curator, points out that a “tenth installation has been grafted to the itinerary as naturally as possible” and that, once again, “the majority of the works are World Premieres!”
MANON LABRECQUE is exhibiting two works: « toro (version 2023) » at the Bibliothèque Charles-Édouard-Mailhot and « des oscillations » on Rue de la Gare, the latter presented in collaboration with the arts centre Atoll art actuel. Five works can be found at Place Sainte-Victoire: ERIC QUACH & JIM DEMOS’s « Les cabines télésymphoniques » (agora), LUDOVIC BONEY’s « Afin d’éviter tous ces nœuds (Victoriaville, 2023) » (piste cyclable), SIMONE D’AMBROSIO & NÉLANNE RACINE’s « Éons » (kiosque à musique), STÉPHANIE CASTONGUAY’s « Résonances induites (Victoriaville, 2023) » (terrain de pétanque), and ALEXIS BELLAVANCE’s « Stéréostrobe » (near the Vélogare). At Centre d’art Jacques-et-Michel-Auger, inside Carré 150, the duo BÉCHARD HUDON will be exhibiting « Invariables variations ». There will also be ARIANE PLANTE’s « La cosmogonie des sons : variations nocturnes » on Rue de la Gare, as well as « we are individuals, we are not special » by LÉA BOUDREAU exhibited in a display window at the Gérald Musique store.
This project is made possible thanks to several partners: the City of Victoriaville, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Tourisme Québec, the Ministère de la Culture et des Communications du Québec, Canadian Heritage, the Canada Council for the Arts, Le Devoir, La Nouvelle Union, Télévision communautaire des Bois-Francs, Caisse Desjardins, Atoll Art Actuel and Centre d’art Jacques-et-Michel-Auger.
A visual arts exhibit
Chilean-born artist RAFAEL SOTTOLICHIO, who has been living in Montreal for several years, will be exhibiting paintings inside Carré 150’s Cabaret Guy-Aubert. The exhibition, entitled « Traces d’empire », consists of works that explore the historical relationship between art and power, among other topics. They can be admired at every concert presented in that hall from Thursday the 18th to Sunday the 21st of May 2022.
Passports and tickets for the concerts and experimental film screenings of the 39th FIMAV 2023 are also available.
Wednesday, March 15, 2023 – We are finally unvealing ALL the details on each concerts and film programs of the 39th FIMAV 2023! Check the full schedule. All individual tickets and all passports are now available : go to our tickets page! The Festival team gathered yesterday in front of the Centre des Congrès of the Hotel Le Victorin to take their traditional photo. This year you will discover this new venue and we assure you that its layout will bring back the spirit of the Colisée.
Thursday, March 9, 2023 – The Board of Directors of Productions Plateforme Inc., the non-profit organization that oversees the organization of the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV), is announcing today, with a heavy heart and loads of gratitude, that the 39th FIMAV will be the last edition for Michel Levasseur and Joanne Vézina.
Michel Levasseur has been the general manager and artistic director of FIMAV since the very first edition in 1983, and he was a founding member of Productions Plateforme Inc. in 1982. Joanne Vézina started at the festival as a lighting designer and stage manager, before taking on an administrative role in 1991. Both will be leaving their positions at the general, artistic, and administrative departments after closing the books on the 39th FIMAV 2023. These two pillars of our organization, one often publicly compared to a “mighty oak tree” for his resistance and vigour, the other nicknamed the “quiet force” by the staff for her rigour and calm, have marked the history of Productions Plateforme Inc. and FIMAV, but also the history of Musique Actuelle and avant-garde arts. Both have contributed enormously to Quebec’s cultural dynamism and have left a mark on hundreds of event workers, in addition to having helped propel countless careers in the arts.
Producing an event of international scope outside large urban centres requires unparalleled expertise. Thanks to unfailing professionalism, a constantly renewed sense of resourcefulness and boundless creativity, the duo at the head of Productions Plateforme Inc. and FIMAV, Michel Levasseur and Joanne Vézina, are leaving an organization in excellent financial health. The President of the organization’s board of directors, Annie St-Jean, would like to sincerely thank Michel Levasseur and Joanne Vézina “for having carried the mandate of this unique festival all these years, without any artistic compromise! The duo they form together deserves all our admiration. The values conveyed by FIMAV are forever imprinted in the hearts of everyone who have experienced the festival. Michel and Joanne have passed on their passion and their openness to diversity through their power of attraction and their rigour since 1983, with well-calculated risk management. We thank them for their authenticity and for the spark that animates them, the spark that makes us all want to attend the party. The 39th edition will certainly be a good vintage!” On this note, the members of the board are inviting artists, staff, volunteers and festival-goers to join them in warmly thanking Michel Levasseur and Joanne Vézina for their dedication over the past four decades!
Turning a new leaf, starting a new chapter
The board of Productions Plateforme Inc. is actively looking for two or three individuals to take the reins of FIMAV’s general, artistic, and administrative departments. “FIMAV is of immeasurable importance and relevance to the cultural landscape that forges our identity. The Board of Directors is therefore open-minded and actively looking for a succession to keep the noble mission of our organization alive,” said Annie St-Jean. Those interested in taking over are asked to contact the board’s transition committee by email.
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Thursday, February 9, 2023 - The concert lineup for the 39th FIMAV 2023, which will take place from May 15 to 21, is finally revealed! Artists from nearly twenty different countries (France, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Belgium, Quebec, Canada, Germany, Portugal, Colombia, Argentina, Bhutan, Greece, Italy, Spain, England) will gather in Victoriaville to offer the public exclusive performances; all the concerts are Premieres! There are 2 World Premieres, 7 North American Premieres, 9 Canadian Premieres and 1 Quebec Premiere. |
Monday, January 30, 2023 — The team behind the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (FIMAV) has faced multiple challenges since the very first edition of the event, be it uncertain funding, a lack of human resources, a destabilized international socio-political environment, or a global public health crisis. The most recent event is the announcement by the City of Victoriaville, on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, that the Colisée Desjardins would not be available for the 39th FIMAV 2023.
FIMAV must consequently abandon the Colisée, which we had been using to its full potential for 28 years, and which, for the team, the artists and the public, embodies the soul of FIMAV. We were shocked by the news, and after trying everything to get this decision reversed, we found ourselves up against the wall. We had to find solutions in a short time to relocate two performance halls whose reputation is second to none, less than five months from the festival, and considering that such changes entail significant collateral damage, require additional expenses, and add to our workload.
Le Carré 150 and Hôtel Le Victorin to the rescue
Such a turnaround involved revising previously negotiated agreements with numerous suppliers and partners. However, the team mobilized to quickly find alternatives that would meet the expectations of the public and the artists and allow us to present FIMAV’s four components in the best possible conditions.
The people at Le Carré 150, a major cultural partner of FIMAV, and Hôtel Le Victorin, a hotel partner since the beginnings of the festival, showed great flexibility to make it possible to hold the 39th edition in their halls. And so we are announcing today that the
concerts of the 39th FIMAV 2023 will take place at Le Carré 150’s Frères-Lemaire Hall and Cabaret Guy-Aubert, for a total of 13 concerts and 2 film screenings from Thursday the 18th to Sunday the 21st of May, and at Hotel Le Victorin’s Convention Centre for 6 concerts from Friday the 19th following an overnight set-up, since a convention is being held on the premises until Thursday evening.
The exhibition of large-format visual art works will take place on the walls of Le Carré 150’s Cabaret Guy-Aubert. The circuit of sound installations in public spaces will be taking place in various locations in downtown Victoriaville as usual.
The concert line-up for the 39th FIMAV 2023 will be unveiled on the 9th of February, and the Passeport Festival presale will begin at the same time. The 39th edition of FIMAV will be happening, against all odds, and it will be exceptional!
Wednesday, December 14, 2022 - We are thrilled to unveil the new image graphic designer Isabelle Beaumier came up with for FIMAV's upcoming 39th edition, May 15-21, 2023!
Productions Plateforme Inc. offices will be closed from December 16 to beginning of January. We wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2023! More infos on the next FIMAV to come in January.
