Listen To Harmonium For A Harmonious Canada Vacation

Additional than 100 artists will obtain May 24 in an amphitheater in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, to accomplish orchestral reinterpretations of the groundbreaking 1970s songs of Serge Fiori and his former Canadian progressive-rock group Harmonium. It is really a tribute to Fiori who resides about 240 miles north of the live performance location, has an endearing love for his home province and shares recommendations for people.

Fiori life in Saint-Henri-De-Taillon, adjacent to Lac Saint-Jean, a large lake about a 5 1/2-hour generate north of Montreal. He wrote or co-wrote just about all Harmonium’s music, together with all five on the 1975 album Si On Avait Besoin D’Une Cinquieme, which Rolling Stone set on its checklist of the 50 Greatest Prog-Rock Albums of All Time.

“I’m ideal on the seaside of the lake,” says Fiori, who celebrated his 70th birthday very last thirty day period. “Imagine a wonderful, wonderful seaside — it seems a great deal like Maine. The to start with time I arrived right here I mentioned, ‘Okay, if I have to leave Montreal, I have to be in a house wherever it is unquestionably beautiful. Wanting out the window now, I really don’t consider how gorgeous this is. It’s just paradise.”

Montreal, exactly where Fiori grew up, remains shut to his heart.

“There’s a little something about it,” he suggests. “Everybody states it is really a mixture of Paris and New York, and it is. And then there are the persons. They are so receptive to music — it truly is crazy.”

All through the pandemic in summer 2020, 68 musicians in Montreal’s symphony orchestra recorded Histoires sans paroles – Harmonium symphonique, a symphonic reinterpretation of Harmonium’s music for a two-CD established that was unveiled in 2020 and a 4-vinyl, two-CD box established that was introduced final 12 months.

“We had to respect the distance among the musicians mainly because of COVID,” Fiori remembers about the recording periods that have been held at Montreal’s 1,900-seat Maison Symphonique. “To sustain social distancing concerning all the players, we had to build and increase an additional 20 feet in entrance of the primary stage. It was an remarkable effort and hard work.”

Fiori claims he’s in enjoy with Previous Montreal, an space not to be skipped by American tourists. Previous Montreal, found between the St. Lawrence River and downtown Montreal, appears to be like European with cobblestone streets and 17th- and 18th- Century architecture.

“Saint-Laurent and Saint-Denis are streets that are so diverse and so intriguing, and Sainte-Catherine’s jazz pageant is the most effective in the globe,” Fiori states.

It is hard to discover exceptional dining establishments in Montreal, he claims, due to the fact there are so several excellent kinds. Just one favorite, however, is Le Café du Nouveau Monde, a French bistro at the Theatre du Nouveau Monde.

“It’s positioned in the center of the jazz competition,” Fiori claims. “You take in food stuff, you have the finest wines in the planet and you have a group that is so satisfied to listen to music and be in that setting. You have live bands outside. A food, some wine and some terrific new music — which is quite Montreal.”

Quebec Metropolis is also a particular place for Fiori.

“Quebec Metropolis is Previous Montreal all over the place,” he states. “It’s Quebec, it is Paris, it is little Paris. It’s just so gorgeous, warm and loaded, with very little boutiques and minimal bistros. It is really so French, so Latin. Americans and other folks I know who go to Quebec City ebook it for 3 times, and soon after being there, don’t want to go residence. Each corner in that metropolis is fully lovely.”

Fiori has seen many specific spots for the duration of his life time, and he gives a special message to the entire world.

“Everybody requires to believe that in themselves, due to the fact you hardly ever know what can quite possibly take place,” he states. “Look at what transpired to me. I wrote Harmonium’s audio when I was 21 to 25 several years previous, and, now, a long time later, it is tough to believe that my new music would grow to be symphonic. It is a desire occur correct. So, feel in oneself and be grateful.”