Mendelssohn’s Elias – an unmistakably Romantic piece with a Baroque spirit
Elijas by Felix Mendelssohn
This year’s Festival International Bach Montréal opens on two surprising notes.
Elijah is considered Mendelssohn’s major work, and a high point among 19th-century oratorios. Largely inspired by J.S. Bach, Mendelssohn infused this unmistakably Romantic and dramatic piece with a Baroque spirit.
For this concert, the Festival Orchestra and Chorus will be conducted by renowned Montreal-born composer and conductor, Maestro Samy Moussa.
“Samy Moussa possesses an exceptional understanding of orchestral colour and musical form, enabling him to create works that are both captivating and moving’” – Le Devoir.
Artists
Samy Moussa, conductor
Born in Montreal and now based in Berlin, composer-conductor Samy Moussa is one of the world’s leading composers. Moussa’s work has been performed by many prestigious orchestras including the Vienna Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, London Symphony Orchestra and New York Philharmonic.
Notable premieres of recent seasons include orchestral work Elysium which was premiered by the Vienna Philharmonic and Christian Thielemann in 2021 and has since received multiple performances worldwide. Moussa’s Symphony No.2 was premiered in 2022 by the Toronto Symphony and at the BBC Proms, and in 2025 the Dutch National Opera & Ballet gave the premiere of oratorio Antigone. Other recent highlights include the premieres of Adgilis Deda by the Pittsburgh Symphony and Manfred Honeck, and Trombone Concerto “Yericho” with Orchestre National de Lyon and Jörgen van Rijen.
Moussa’s works have also been commissioned and performed by the likes of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, Staatskapelle Berlin, Dutch National Opera and Ballet, NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra, Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Rotterdam Philharmonic and Los Angeles Philharmonic. He has featured as Artist in Residence at Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Composer in Residence with Helsinki Philharmonic and frequently collaborates with Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Moussa’s works remain popular with internationally renowned conductors such as Manfred Honeck, Kent Nagano, Stéphane Denève, Christian Thielemann, Christoph Eschenbach, Gustavo Gimeno, Hannu Lintu, Kevin John Edusei, Eva Ollikainen, Fabien Gabel and Lorenzo Viotti.
Recent seasons have seen Moussa take up the baton to conduct a range of repertoire from Classical to contemporary with many orchestras around the world, including the Bayerisches Staatsorchester, Helsinki Philharmonic, Milan Symphony Orchestra, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, MDR Symphony Leipzig, Vienna Radio Symphony, Zürich Chamber Orchestra, Québec Symphony, Winnipeg Symphony, Orchestra della Svizzera Italiana, Bilbao Symphony Orchestra and Musikkollegium Winterthur.
Moussa’s 2025/26 season opens with a feature at MITO SettembreMusica Festival in Italy where he conducts the Milan Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI present the Italian premiere of Elysium and Symphony No.1. This season also sees the world premiere of Moussa’s Flute Concerto for Emmanuel Pahud to be premiered by the Orchestre National de France (cond. Gabel), a new work premiered by DSO Berlin (cond. Nagano) and the premiere of “Ring” for cello and chamber orchestra with National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa. Moussa conducts Mendelssohn’s Elijah at the Festival International Bach Montréal, the Vienna Philharmonic will perform Elysium once again, in concerts at the Musikverein conducted by Thielemann, and Oslo Opera House and Ballet present the Norwegian premiere of Antigone in a new choreography by Sir Wayne McGregor.
Samy Moussa’s work has been acclaimed by critics, juries and audiences alike, with notable awards including the 2020 Laureate of Fondation Banque Populaire, 2018 Villa Massimo Fellowship, Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival’s 2017 Paul Hindemith Prize, the Ernst von Siemens 2013 Composers’ Prize, and a 2012 Bayerischen Kunstförderpreis for his work as Music Director of INDEX Ensemble.
Matthias Winckhler, Baritone (Elias)
Born in 1990 in Munich, bass-baritone Matthias Winckhler began his musical training at the Bavarian Vocal Academy, and went on to study voice at Salzburg Mozarteum University in the class of Andreas Macco, as well as in the Lied interpretation class of Wolfgang Holzmair. He also actively participated in masterclasses imparted by Matthias Goerne, Markus Hinterhäuser, Graham Johnson, Christa Ludwig, Malcolm Martineau, Bejun Mehta, Michele Pertusi, Rudolf Piernay, Peter Schreier, Bo Skovhus, and Breda Zakotnik. He has been a bursary of the Walter & Charlotte Hamel Foundation and the Walter Kaminsky Foundation.
In 2017, he was awarded the Trude Eipperle Rieger Advancement Prize. In 2014, at the Salzburg International Mozart Competition, he won First Prize, as well as the Mozarteum Foundation Special Prize. He was also a laureate of the International Johann Sebastian Bach Competition in Leipzig in 2012, of the National Junior Voice Competition in Berlin in 2010, and of the Schubert Lied Duo Competition in Dortmund in 2014.
Mireille Asselin, soprano
A singer deemed “a treasure” by the Toronto Star, Canadian soprano Mireille Asselin enjoys a diverse, international career spanning concert, opera and recital work.
To date, Mireille has sung five seasons at the Metropolitan Opera, where she debuted as Poussette in MANON. She then made waves by jumping in as Adele for opening night of DIE FLEDERMAUS under the baton of James Levine, giving a performance that critics raved “stole the show”, hailing it as one of New York’s “most enchanting” of the season.
In the 2025-2026 season, Mireille will make her Royal Opera House debut in London, England, as Arianna and La Fortuna in Handel’s Giustino. She also looks forward to concert engagements with Montreal Bach Festival, Chorus Niagara, the Amici Ensemble, the Orchestre Symphonique de Gatineau, Victoria Baroque, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony and the Brooklyn Art Song Society, as well as the release of a CD of new commissions by celebrated American composer, Tom Cipullo.
Mireille Lebel, alto
Canadian mezzo-soprano and producer Mireille Lebel grew up in Vancouver and is based in Berlin. She sings leading roles for lyric mezzo in opera houses internationally. While continuing to add roles to her core repertoire, she produces and creates musical projects. In 2020 she co-founded the artistic collective Crown The Muse in Berlin with frequent collaborator, the soprano/pianist Rachel Fenlon. They were awarded a Canada Council Grant for their first collaboration, and their transposition of Schoenberg’s Pierrot Lunaire premiered at the Festival d’Opéra de Québec and will tour internationally.
Mireille graduated with a Bachelor of Music from the University of Toronto and a Master of Music from l’Université de Montréal and is the recipient of grants from the Canada Council, the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, and the Deutscher Musikrat. Following her tenure as a young artist at the Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montreal, a grant from the Jeunes Ambassadeurs Lyriques sent her on an audition tour to Germany. She was engaged at Theater Erfurt where she became a member of the ensemble for 5 years singing roles such as Sesto (Clemenza di Tito), Orlovsky (Die Fledermaus), Haensel (Haensel und Gretel), and Idamante (Idomeneo).
Patrick Grahl, tenor
Born in Leipzig, Patrick Grahl was initially a member of the Thomanerchor under the baton of Georg Christoph Biller. He then received his vocal training at the University of Music and Theatre “Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy” in Leipzig under Berthold Schmid, graduating with distinction from the master class. Courses with Peter Schreier, Gotthold Schwarz, Gerd Türk, Ileana Cotrubas, and Karl-Peter Kammerlander provided important impulses for his artistic development.
On the opera stage, he has performed as Don Ottavio (Mozart: Don Giovanni) at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, as Jaquino (Beethoven: Fidelio) with the Insula Orchestra under the baton of Laurence Equilbey, at the Marvão Festival (Mozart: Die Entführung aus dem Serail), and in other roles at the Opéra National de Lyon, as well as in Helsinki and Budapest.
Jean-Sébastien Vallée, choir director
Jean-Sébastien Vallée is an internationally recognized Canadian-American conductor, scholar, and pedagogue, acclaimed for his expertise in vocal, choral, and orchestral repertoires. Over the course of his career, he has led ensembles across North America, Europe, and Asia, and has collaborated with some of the world’s leading orchestras, including the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, l’Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa.
Dr. Vallée is Full Professor of Music Performance, Director of Choral Studies, and Coordinator of the Ensembles & Conducting Area at McGill University’s Schulich School of Music. He also serves as Artistic Director and Principal Conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and its professional chamber ensemble, the Toronto Mendelssohn Singers. Prior to his appointment at McGill, he directed choral studies at California State University, Los Angeles, and taught on the choral faculty of the University of Redlands. He holds degrees from Université Laval, Université de Sherbrooke, the University of California, Santa Cruz, and a doctorate in conducting from the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.
In recognition of his artistic leadership and contributions to the field, Dr. Vallée received the 2025 Distinguished Alumni Prize from Université Laval, awarded to alumni who exemplify innovation, creativity, talent, and exceptional leadership in their professional achievements.
Orchestra & Choir Festival International Bach Montréal
Since its creation in 2018, the Festival International Bach Montréal Orchestra and Choir has been an ensemble that comes together each year especially for the festival season. It performs a series of concerts on the occasion of the festival’s official opening and closing…
In keeping with the tradition of major international music festivals, the Orchestra is made up predominantly of professional musicians from major orchestras such as the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (OSM) and includes a few exceptional young artists and students at the start of their careers. The performers are granted a temporary absence from their respective orchestras to perform on stage for the festival.
All the musicians in the Orchestra are selected and invited by the festival’s orchestral committee, which offers local talent a unique opportunity to join forces and take part in exciting, ambitious projects such as the FBM.
Program
Felix Mendelssohn (1809 – 1847)
Oratorio Elias, Op. 70, MWV A 25 (German version)
Friday, November 21, 2025 at 7:30pm
Maison symphonique
To purchase your tickets, visit: www.placedesarts.com