As a testament to art’s ability to spring from even the most mundane circumstances, Hugo Blouin’s latest release was inspired by a gathering of friends—talking about their day, conversing about art, and sharing recipes. Those conversations were transformed into the lyrics of Le buffet, a smorgasbord of sources and topics and inspirations. With primary lead vocals by Eugénie Jobin Tremblay (plus guests like Marion Rampal), drums & percussion by John Hollenbeck, wind instruments from Aurélien Tomasi, pianist Marianne Trudel, and Blouin’s double bass, the music has an eccentric personality, quirky at times, lyrical always.

This is a second album for the Montréal baritone sax/viola duo of Ida Toninato and Jennifer Thiessen. The first one ( The Space Between Us — 2018) had left a mark on us with its unique acoustic imprint. This Dream of Heat, Schubertian in its allegory of death through the figure of winter, effectively immerses us in an enchanting twilight, made up of slow and beautiful lines from the two main instruments, but also, for the first time, of synthesisers that are sometimes ethereal, sometimes pulsating and airy (with Jason Sharp’s support). The voices of the ladies, rather whispers, sometimes cries, are added to create desolate, spectral landscapes, but still seductive. This post-urban “Winterreise” that meets Blade Runner is superb, very contemporary, minimalist, and cinematic. Hope is in order at the end of the journey with the piece called Change, from where light emerges.

Dream of Heat warmed us up this early February in Montréal, last Monday the 9th at Sala Rossa, in a launch concert that was a not-miss affair, in my opinion.

Lavorare sulla memoria dandole una forma uguale e diversa nella contemporaneità. Si può fare strutturando aree tematiche quali le migrazioni, gli spiriti, la perdita, la finitezza e l’addio. Il tutto legato, che magnifica intenzione, dalla gioia.

Convenuto su questo, si dividono sedici brani in quattro suite che arrivano dall’elaborazione di registrazioni su nastro effettuate a Parigia inizio anni Novanta.

È un progetto che definire inusuale è riduttivo, in quanto tra field recording, artrock, inserti electro, pop, psych e sperimentali risulta inclassificabile. Affascinante.

The potent collaboration between Montréal-based composer-performers Ida Toninato (baritone saxophone) and Jennifer Thiessen (viola, viola d’amore) crystallized after both shared the stage with the legendary Montréal dance company La La La Human Steps. In 2018, they released their acclaimed debut, The Space Between Us, an intimate and decidedly conversational affair that dove headlong into both the common and contrasting features of their primary instruments. This singular recording garnered JUNO and prix Opus nominations, as well as praise from Musicworks, which aptly described the music as “at the intersection between jazz, baroque meets Rothko, and a kind of stretched-out folk.”

Their forthcoming album, Dream of Heat (out on Ambiances Magnétiques), reveals an arresting departure for the pair. Although they maintain the acoustic warmth of their previous work, they expand their sound generously with overdubs and electronic treatments, constructing a vivid and brooding landscape that takes winter’s cycle of death and rebirth as its core.

From Lockdown Postcards to Panoramic Compositions

Perhaps most notable among the panoply of new sonic components is the presence of singing. The fact that these six pieces feel like abstract songs brings additional stylistic intrigue to their already bewildering blend of approaches. The record’s underlying methodology explains much of this newfound panoramic outlook. As the liner notes state: “This new body of work began as sonic postcards exchanged by the two musicians during the solitude of lockdown in the winter of 2021. These seed recordings were then nurtured into compositions.”

The album’s constituent ingredients include viola, baritone saxophone, electronics, field recordings, reverberant spaces, and spoken and sung voices with original texts in both French and English.

Collaborative Alchemy

Initially conceived as a live performance entitled Winter [City] Speaks, the subsequent recording process continued to develop the pieces. Constellation Records alumnus Jason Sharp’s involvement was crucial in nurturing this second phase; he stepped in as a producer and performer on synthesizer.

The fact that portions of the album were recorded at the legendary hotel2tango by Radwan Ghazi Moumneh offers further insight into the collision of aesthetics at play. The visceral character of Dream of Heat, alongside the duo’s inspired weaving of deep textural detail and rich orchestration, positions them within a parallel orbit to both Constellation and Ambiances Magnétiques.

The 21st-Century Canadian Snare Drum might seem like a fairly limited category. It’s also the name of the upcoming release by Toronto percussionist Ryan Scott, and after having a listen, limitation is definitely not the idea that comes to mind.

The album is available on February 13, 2026, on the Montréal-based Collection QB, the label created by Quatuor Bozzini, and distributed by DAME.

Scott is a marimba and multi-percussionist, and currently the Artistic Director of Continuum Contemporary Music. He’s performed extensively at contemporary music festivals in North America, Europe, Japan, China, Indonesia, South Africa, the UK and The Netherlands. He’s a frequent guest performer with ensembles such as Esprit Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and The Austin Symphony, among others.

Ryan studied at the University of Toronto, where he earned a Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD degrees in percussion. Today, he teaches at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto, and at the National Youth Orchestra of Canada.

We caught up with Scott to talk about his two-disc CD, featuring commissioned works by 14 Canadian composers.

Ryan Scott: The Interview

The release features new music by Nicole Lizée, Anna Höstman, Bekah Simms, Michael Oesterle, Andrew Staniland, Emilie Cecilia LeBel, Amy Brandon, Monica Pearce and others.

The humble snare drum is where many percussionists’ journeys begin, and it’s in common use around the world. The album showcases the wide breadth of possibilities for the instrument, as it showcases the work of Canadian composers.

“First of all, I chose the snare drum because it’s really the mother instrument of percussionists,” Scott begins. He points out that capability on the snare drum is key to percussion techniques overall.

That’s why it’s typically used for drummer’s auditions. “They start with snare drum, because you can tell right away if they have the skills necessary for the job,” he says. “It’s a tradition that goes back hundreds of years.”

The Music

He chose a group of 14 celebrated Canadian composers for a reason — to come up with a diverse range of music.

“This is not a CD of a bunch of percussion composers writing for the drum,” he says. “Each piece is so unique. It’s really 14 different voices.”

He gave each free rein to come up with their own ideas. “When I commissioned all the composers, I didn’t specify to them any limitations whatsoever.”

As a result, their approaches vary widely. About half use electronic enhancement or elements, while the rest don’t. “I met with most of them and worked with them on the material before the pieces were created.”

The compositions were premiered live in 2023. The commissions actually resulted in 15 pieces originally. As he notes, the only percussion composer he’d approached, Russell Hartenberger, broke the rules, i.e. that it be a work for solo snare drum. “He wrote for four percussion and ensemble,” Scott says. “That became its own CD, and is being played all over the place.”

Andrew Staniland’s composition was written for Ryan as a gift as he was completing his doctorate. “It’s been performed all over the place,” he notes.

Part of the impetus for the album is to add to the global repertoire for solo drum. “We don’t have a lot of repertoire that is transportable,” he notes of percussionists in general. Music for solo snare drum is one of the more significant exceptions.

“It’s incredibly appealing to percussionists,” he says. As a percussionist, it’s an opportunity to savour. Typically, performance means either hauling or accessing a daunting series of instruments that can be heavy, bulky, and awkward to carry. “I call it a lifestyle.”

The Composers

How did he come to choose these 14 composers?

“I’m also the artistic director at Continuum,” Scott explains. He’s a very active member of the contemporary music community both in Toronto and beyond, and he’s maintained great relationships with composers and others after working in the industry for 30 years. He was looking for a diverse range of music, and found it in this group. “These composers would be a very interesting mix,” he thought. “[It’s] Canadian repertoire that will have a global impact.”

The music speaks for itself. “It’s not like one piece is necessarily better than another.”

As he points out, some composers looked to explore percussion techniques, while others adopted a more conceptual approach. “It’s just a really interesting exploration of what’s possible with the instrument.”

Nicole Lizée, for example, uses what’s called a gravity blast roll in her piece The Far Night.fm. It’s a technique used by heavy metal drummers. “Just to get that technique down, it took me seven or eight months,” he says.

The album’s impact should spread well beyond the percussion community per se. He says that the live performance was sold out, and audience comments afterwards were revealing. “Often times, a lot of the comments came from some of the more introspective pieces,” he says.

Naturally, assembling a body of 14 original commissioned pieces was no small feat. It began with the funding, which came from a Canada Council grant of a type that was new at the time. “I was awarded that in December 2020 right in the heart of the pandemic.”

He gave the individual composers flexible deadlines, and says most of the works were completed within two years. “I think the last work came in a couple of months before [the September 2023 live premiere].”

The recording project came immediately after. “Three days later I went into the studio with Paul Talbott,” he says. Talbott, a recording engineer, is the spouse of composer Emilie Cecilia LeBel. “We recorded it over two days.

Final Thoughts

“I’m really grateful to the Canada Council for the Arts,” Scott says. “It was a dream to do this project. I dreamt about it for years,” he adds. “I was really delighted that it happened at all.”

Additional support from the Ontario Arts Council supported the recording. “I broke even,” he laughs.

“Ultimately, a lot of gratitude,” he adds. “My gratitude is to the composers. No one said no.” He says they all approached it with excitement. “It’s beyond my imagination.”

It was a challenge to keep up with 14 different approaches to the instrument. “They really kicked my ass,” he says. “They’re all really genuine works. As the art goes, it is genuine and unique, and it is a meaningful contribution to the repertoire.”

He’s looking forward to the album’s release.

“I’m glad that five year so on, it’s finally off my desk, and on to something else.”

Comme les compositrices montréalaises Ida Toninato et Jennifer Thiessen, tout le monde ces jours-ci rêve d’un peu de chaleur. Leur second album collaboratif, lyrique et ingénieux, revisite le thème de l’hiver comme allégorie de la mort — ainsi que son corollaire, le printemps, symbole de renaissance, sur la lumineuse, magnifique Change en conclusion, Thiessen récitant son texte sur les orchestrations de l’alto dont elle joue et du saxophone de Toninato. Contemplatives, les six compositions de Dream of Heat soufflent davantage le froid (littéralement, le son du vent vient enrober les cordes et les voix de Thiessen sur I Need Warmth) que le chaud qui transpire du jeu passionné de Toninato sur la minimaliste chanson Bear; les synthétiseurs occupent davantage de place dans la poétique On a tellement rêvé et sur Hot Blood Flow, la plus avant-gardiste de cet album qui témoigne d’une réelle complicité créative, chacune d’elles sachant tirer le meilleur de l’autre. Concert-lancement le 9 février à la Sala Rossa avec la saxophoniste torontoise Karen Ng, présenté par No hay banda.