What's On Upcoming Events: 

November 12, 2025
7:30pm
Hugh’s Room (296 Broadview Ave, Toronto, ON M4M 2G7)

Birdsong is the often-unnoticed soundtrack of our daily lives. More than just background sound, birdsong has long been a source of artistic inspiration: it holds deep cultural meaning and crucially, is recognized as a key indicator of environmental health. This Encounters event explores the significance of birdsong through music, featuring renowned pianist Louise Bessette, one of the foremost interpreters of seminal 20th century French composer Olivier Messiaen. She will perform two works from his Catalogue d’Oiseaux (L’alouette Lulu and L’alouette Calandrelle) alongside two world premieres of two new Soundstreams commissioned works, composed by Kalaisan Kalaichelvan and Maria-Eduarda Mendes Martins, each written in response to one of the Messiaen works being performed. Musical performances will be followed by a panel discussion and audience Q&A with Michael Mesure (Executive Director of FLAP Canada), Bessette, Mendes Martins and Kalaichelvan.

This Encounters event is a companion event to Soundstreams’ first mainstage concert of the season, on November 22, Mass for the Endangered. Find out more here.

This TD Encounters is presented in partnership with FLAP (Fatal Light Awareness Program) Canada, a leading Canadian charity and recognized authority on bird-building collisions. Their work is dedicated to preserving bird ecosystems and protecting birdsong by keeping birds safe from deadly collisions in our built environment.

*Soundstreams’ TD Encounters is a free event series which always offers something different. These events are equal parts performance, artist discussion, and Q&A, and give audiences the opportunity to engage with artists and their work in an intimate and relaxed setting.

LOUISE BESSETTE
A versatile musician and a piano wizard, Louise Bessette is much in demand as a concert artist in Europe, America, and Asia. She has recorded over thirty albums including a wide variety of repertoire, appearing the world over with distinguished orchestras and by invitation to first-rate festivals. She premiers works specially written for her and her reviews are laudatory.
In 2019, she received the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award, Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award for Classical Music. The GGPAA are Canada’s highest honour in the performing arts. In 2015, she was listed as one of Canada’s top 25 pianists by CBC Music. First Prizes at Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition, Concours International de Musique Contemporaine (Saint-Germain-en-Laye), International Gaudeamus Competition (Rotterdam), Louise is a Member of the Order of Canada, Officer of the Ordre national du Québec and Knight of the Ordre de Montréal. Professor of piano at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal since 1996, she is regularly invited by prestigious international music competitions as a jury member.