A chat with a contemporary music legend: Howard Skempton

For the very first time, British composer Howard Skempton, one of the minimalists most appreciated by both specialists and the general public, is in Montreal. The veteran composer is visiting us for the Suoni per il popolo festival. Skempton is a specialist in small formats, but above all in a deceptive simplicity and an emphasis on melody and tonality (his music has been described as "the emancipation of consonance", which was a form of avant-gardism in the 1960s, when the highly demanding and dissonant approaches of Stockhausen and company reigned supreme). He will be with the Quatuor Bozzini in a not-to-be-missed concert showcasing his sparing, highly accessible music, but beneath which lies a rich complexity. This is your chance to discover (if you haven't already done so) a major contemporary composer who is above all very engaging.