Composer's note:
"Cris de Bruxelles" originated in the project "Élégie pour Bruxelles (presque 32) poèmes à promener" (Elegy for Brussels (almost 32) poems to walk around) designed by the Belgian-born Montrealer Patsy Van Roost, who has been working for several years in the public space to create completely original devices for interaction and encounters. In response to the tragic events of March 22, 2016 in Brussels, she asked some thirty Quebec poets to write a short poem in homage to the missing victims of the attacks. These poems were then sewn onto T-shirts and worn by volunteers during the Pavé Poésie event that took place on Mont-Royal Avenue in Montreal in June 2016.
In response to my request, Patsy Van Roost agreed to send me these texts and I chose six of them to set them to music for this concert, which was entitled "A cor et à cris".
"Cris de Bruxelles" is dedicated to all the victims of the attacks of 22 March 2016 in Brussels.