Festival international de musique actuelle de Victoriaville
In the penultimate concert of the festival, at 5:30 in the Carré 150, Montréal’s Quatuor Bozzini presented a program of works by Quebec composers. The first was by Nicolas Caloia, bassist and leader of the Ratchet Orchestra, and on the second, by jeff chippewa, the quartet was joined by alto saxophonist Yves Charuest. The final part of the performance was an improvisation with the quartet and Charuest joined by Caloia on bass. The quartet — violinist Clemens Merkel, cellist Isabelle Bozzini, altoist Stéphanie Bozzini, and violinist Alissa Cheung — are superb musicians who tread the line — as so many do — between the classical and the avant-garde, with, in this case, a strong leaning toward the latter. Once again, the textural elements of the instruments themselves were foregrounded.