Lamèque Festival in Canada: “Summer camp for musicians” 

Alongside Vancouver and Montreal, the International Baroque Music Festival of Lamèque (New Brunswick) is one of the few major Canadian events dedicated to early music. This year, it runs from July 24 to 26, 2025. The program, built around the theme of Nations, spans from the opening concert devoted to Telemann to Bach cantatas sung by the Saint-Charles Mission Choir. 

A summer camp for musicians 

Perched on the northern tip of the Canadian province of New Brunswick, the small town of Lamèque perfectly matches the image of a picturesque summer event: a place outside of time, where a group of musicians and music lovers gather to enjoy themselves in a bucolic setting. That is precisely what has taken place every year since the creation of the International Baroque Music Festival nearly fifty years ago—an event that has gradually become, in the words of its artistic director, recorder player Vincent Lauzer, “a real summer camp for musicians.”

To understand this region’s deep-rooted love for baroque music, one must go back to the figure of Mathieu Duguay, a pianist and harpsichordist who taught the local population for many years. Today, he gives his name to the annual competition organized by the festival. The residents—former students or members of the wider artistic community—play a major role in the success of the event by hosting the guest musicians in their homes. The lack of hotels, Lauzer notes, “creates a direct connection between the residents and the artists,” while also pointing out the festival’s popularity: “Seventy percent of the audience comes from outside the region.” 

Toward Europe and beyond

This 49th edition of the festival will feature a dozen concerts under the theme of Nations—a title that refers to the four great baroque countries: Germany, England, France, and Italy, but also, according to the artistic director, highlights “the period’s interest in other territories, sometimes faraway, at a time when traveling wasn’t as easy.”

The program was designed with the festival audience’s tastes in mind: “they love the great classics but also enjoy discoveries.” The opening concert is proof of this, says Vincent Lauzer, as it is “devoted to Telemann and the influence of Polish music” (July 24). This event is one of the highlights of the festival because “it precisely emphasizes a curiosity for the unfamiliar,” the musician believes.

Even more distant lands will be explored during Ziya Tabassian’s concert (July 26). The Iranian-born percussionist will be featured in an evening titled Remembrance, named after the album he released in 2023. The project stems from his research on a manuscript written by Amir Khan Gorgi for the King of Iran in 1696. 

For one evening, Lamèque’s audience will thus be transported from the shores of the Atlantic to the Safavid era in Persia. Ziya Tabassian describes the music he plays as “sophisticated” and “just as complex” as Western music of the same period. The manuscript used for Remembrance merely outlines “a rhythmic cycle,” forcing the percussionist to “imagine the musical component from other sources of the time.”

Bach Blooms across France this Summer 

It is worth noting that in recent years, Canadian early music enthusiasts have increasingly seen Middle Eastern works featured in programs typically centered on European repertoire. Does this signal a lasting interest in such explorations within the baroque field? Ziya Tabassian is convinced: “There is greater openness and inclusivity for this kind of music across the North American continent.”

Alongside these anticipated moments—each promising a journey—the International Baroque Music Festival of Lamèque will also host concerts devoted to Bach, Couperin, and Handel.