Gala de la Terre: A Concert in the Heart of Nature to Protect the Banks of the St. Lawrence River

To open the Festival de Lanaudière, the Orchestre de l’Agora, under the direction of Nicolas Ellis, is inviting the public to the 4^th edition of its Gala de la Terre on July 4^th. It’s an opportunity to hear music that celebrates the forces of nature while supporting an initiative to help preserve the banks of the St. Lawrence River.

The Land, a Source of Inspiration

For its third edition, the Gala de la Terre is introducing something new: the funds raised ($5 per ticket sold) will this time be donated to a single organization, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, in support of its project to preserve and restore the lands along the St. Lawrence River. “It’s an inspiring project for creating a concert program,” says Nicolas Ellis, who will be at the podium for the event. “For this edition, the goal is to tell the story of our region through sound and music, and to combine that with great works from the repertoire that also relate to nature,” he continues.

Works Evoking Nature’s Grandeur

The first part of the concert will feature two Quebec compositions. First, the Symphonie gaspésienne, by Claude Champagne, which premiered in the 1940s but which will undoubtedly be new to many music lovers’ ears. “Champagne is one of the great Canadian composers of the second half of the 20^th century,” emphasizes Ellis. But, like many works in the Quebec repertoire, his symphony hasn’t received all the recognition it deserves. The Orchestre symphonique de Laval recorded it under ideal conditions… but only in 2024! “This piece is intended to represent the beauty of the Gaspé Peninsula through music,” says the conductor. “It’s the equivalent of Claude Debussy’s La mer, but for the Quebec landscape.”

Alongside this monumental work is a recent composition by Lebanese-Quebecer Katia Makdissi-Warren, Chorus Nunavik, which combines orchestral music with Inuit throat singing. “Katia has created a fusion in which symphonic music supports the throat singing,” explains Ellis. “We will attempt to recreate the sounds of local animals, such as beluga whales and moose.”

The Challenge of The Rite of Spring

After Ravel’s Scheherazade, the highlight of the evening will be Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. “It’s a pagan ritual celebrating the arrival of spring,” says Ellis, who sees it as an ode to the mystical power of the Earth. This work, which caused a sensation when it premiered in 1913, requires more than a hundred musicians and “remains one of the greatest challenges in terms of performance,” the conductor emphasizes. For the Orchestre de l’Agora, it’s also a symbolic return: this will only be the second time the ensemble performs this work, the first having marked its debut in 2013. “At a time when the ensemble was still made up of ‘students,”” the maestro clarifies.

True to its roots, the Orchestre de l’Agora, born at the time of the Maple Spring, has made social commitment one of its core values. Since 2020, the Gala de la Terre has raised $513,000 for various environmental causes. It’s an event that translates musical excellence into concrete action.

*The Orchestre de l’Agora’s Gala de la Terre, conducted by Nicolas Ellis, takes place on July 4, 2026, at the Fernand Lindsay Amphitheatre in Joliette, as part of the Festival de Lanaudière.