Join us for our 19th festival from JuLy 26 to August 4
A Performance-Focused Music Festival
Welcome! The 2024 Midsummer Music Dream Festival is scheduled to take place July 26 to August 4, 2024. It will be our 19th season of making music in the Eastern Townships of rural Quebec.
This year's festival includes concerts at Médiathèque Nelly-Arcan in Lac-Mégantic, Église St-Vital in Lambton, Église St-Paul-de-Cumberland in St-Simon-les-Mines, La Maison du Granit in Lac-Drolet, Église St-Alphonse in Stornoway, Centre sportif de Lac-Mégantic, Église de Saint-Romain in Saint-Romain, Église Sainte-Agnès in Lac-Mégantic, La Cène du Lac in Beaulac-Garthby, Salle Montignac at the Polyvalente de Lac-Mégantic, Parc-Lac-Aylmer in Stratford, and Parc du Grand Lac Saint-François in Lambton.
In addition to the concerts, Festival participants will take part in workshops, performing ensembles and master classes with festival artists.
The highly successful Vocal and Instrumental Programs will again bring together students from throughout the US, Canada and beyond. The programs' daily schedules include workshops, coaching, master classes, repertoire classes and ensemble rehearsals.
Returning in 2024 will be the professionally-focused Songe d'été en musique Vocal Studio with Voice Program Coordinator Thomas Goodheart which will provide training and performances for a select group of singers.
In addition, the festival will again offer a series of Community Programs open to all ages and all levels of musical experience – from beginner to advanced.
All workshops, classes and rehearsals are open to be observed or audited by the general public.
Fourteen concerts were given in Festival 2023 including a musical celebration of Lambton's 75th anniversary.
Performers included Jeffrey Marcus, Noby Ishida, Maureen Hynes, John Isenberg, Thomas Goodheart, Harris Becker, Laura Lessard, Veronica Salas, Jeffrey Wahl, Jean Miller Goodheart, Christina Montalto, Michael McAndrew, Lauren Ishida, and Valérie Bélanger,
A Midsummer Music Dream is recognized as a non-profit charitable organization in Quebec. If you would like to make a donation we will be happy to send you an official receipt for tax purposes.
Seventeen concerts were given in Festival 2022 including a children's concert. Featured were two world premieres written for Saint Romain and for Lambton by Canadian composer Michael Spiroff and UK guitarist/composer Laura Snowden.
Performers included Jeffrey Marcus, Noby Ishida, Maureen Hynes, John Isenberg, Thomas Goodheart, The Artesian Guitar Quartet (Harris Becker, Laura Lessard, Michael Roberts, James Erickson), Veronica Salas, Jeffrey Wahl, Jean Miller Goodheart, Michael McAndrew, Lauren Ishida, Christina Montalto, Chelsea Jaramillo, Mathilde Vaillancourt and others.
The 16th Midsummer Music Dream Festival took place virtually from August 6 to 8, 2021 and in-person from October 1 to 3, 2021 with live concerts.
Concerts were shown on YouTube on August 6 at 8 pm, August 7 at 8 pm, and August 8 at 12 and 4 pm. Watch the concert videos.
All concerts at the virtual festival were free. In lieu of purchasing concert tickets, we asked that viewers consider making a donation of $5, $10 or $20 to the Festival.
Performers included Jeffrey Marcus, Emily Klonowski, Christina Montalto, Frank Cassara, Maureen Hynes, Harris Becker, Noby Ishida, Jeffrey Wahl, Michael Roberts, John Isenberg, Vincent Muscarella, Matthew Goodheart, Lauren Ishida, Barbara Fusco-Spera, Laura Lessard, James Erickson, Veronica Salas, Michael McAndrew and Nick Tursi.
Music performed was composed by: Bach, Albeniz, Dowland, Roberts, Bizet, Rodrigo, Schubert, Tchaikovsky, Ponce, Bennett, Di Marino and others.
The virtual concerts were presented through the services of Eventbrite.
Live in-person concerts took place from October 1 – 3, 2021, celebrating our 16th season of making music in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. The festival included a series of four live concerts which included music by Bach, Pachelbel, Widor, Dowland, Boccherini, Dion, Albeniz and Granados. The concerts took place in the municipalities of Stratford (October 1), Lambton (October 2) and Saint-Romain as well as at the Church of Saint- Paul de Cumberland in Beauce (October 3).
Our Lambton concert was in partnership with Patrimoin'Art Lambton. This concert featured organist Noby Ishida and celebrated the 100th anniversary of the installation of the organ at Église St-Vital. The concert was dedicated to Mrs. Hélène Talbot Roy who was the Église St-Vital organist for 23 years.
Other performers for these concerts included pianist Jeffrey Marcus, soprano Valérie Bélanger, baritone Jean Poulin and guitarist/lutenist Harris Becker.
Due to the pandemic, last year's festival was virtual with over 40 artists from all over the world contributing more than 90 videos. All events were free with some viewers generously making donations to the Centre d’action bénévole du Granit.
The 2019 Midsummer Music Dream / Songe d'été en musique Festival, our last in-person festival, was held from July 26 to August 4, 2019. Festival Artists and participants performed in fourteen concerts throughout the Eastern Townships. Guest artists included world-renowned pianist Jeffrey Marcus, acclaimed percussionist Frank Cassara, harp-guitarist Claude Laflamme, and recordist Jeffrey Wahl.
The Festival Chorus conducted by Noby Ishida performed Antonio Vivaldi's Gloria. Festival Chorus participants from the community participated in a voice workshop designed especially for them.
In addition to the concerts, Festival participants took part in workshops and classes such as guitar ensemble, string ensemble and chorus, and master classes with festival artists.
The highly successful Vocal and Instrumental Programs again brought together students from throughout the U.S., Canada and beyond. The programs' daily schedules included workshops, coaching, master classes, repertoire classes and ensemble rehearsals.
Returning in 2019 was the professionally-focused Songe d'été en musique Vocal Studio with Thomas Goodheart which provided training and performances for a select group of singers.
The festival also included a series of Community Programs open to all ages and levels of musical experience.
Polyvalente Montignac
Lac-Mégantic
Polyvalente Montignac
Lac-Mégantic
Saint-Paul de Cumberland
Mills Church
Église de Saint-Romain
Saint-Romain
Opera Scenes & Arias
LaTribune Article
L'écho Article
L'écho Article
Midsummer Music Dream Festival
Harris Becker, Artistic Director
Board of Directors
Harris Becker, President
Michael Spiroff, Vice-President
Laura Lessard, Secretary
France Pitre, Treasurer
Marie-Josée Roy, Administrator
Website Photos by Nina Krebs and Al Romito. Thank you!
