Use together Twitter and classical music? Really? Well, this is what the Calgary Philharmonic has done with its latest project, which juxtapose ways to keep warm in the cold Calgary winter – sent via Twitter – and Carmina burana’s “O fortuna” by Carl Orff. I certainly didn’t see it coming!

How did all this happen? Between November 21 and November 24, 2011 Tourism Calgary reached out to twitter users asking “How do you stay warm in #YYC?” The submitted tweets that used the hashtag #cpowarmup or replied to the @Calgary Twitter handle were compiled and turned into a twitter first (based on internet and social media searches) – a tweet compilation sung by a philharmonic chorus.

Timothy Shantz, Chorus Master of the Calgary Philharmonic Chorus, picked a few and pasted them in one new fun song. Talking about the project, he said, “We know that our music making has an impact. We see that regularly in the concert hall and in the community, and it’s exciting to take it outside of the box once in a while.” Indeed…

Because Montreal remains an essential element of the Québécois diaspora, with its North-American feel and its European flair, why not include in this week of celebration a jazz rendition of Je reviendrai à Montréal by Robert Charlebois. Among the artists performing are pianist Marianne Trudel and accordionist Francis Covan.

In a similar mood, I must recommand Montreal Variations, one of my favourite concept albums.

First night of finals, 7:30 p.m., Théâtre Maisonneuve (live, sound and image, here). Why not meet the candidats (in their order of performance) in these little clips?

Henry Kramer

Zheeyoung Moon

Beatrice Rana

Lindsay Garritson

Yulia Chaplina

Jong Ho Won

Pianist Victor Bouchard, half of the Bouchard & Morisset Duo with wife Renée Morisset (who died in 2009) passed away Tuesday in Quebec, a few short weeks before his 85th birthday. The two musicians shared the stage for the first time in 1952, in the first of a very long series of concerts that would run for more than half a century and includ numerous international tours. Mr Bouchard led a parallel career as head of the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec, artistic director of the Orford Arts Centre and president of the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada.

The duet had paved the way for numerous Canadian duettists, through concerts and masterclasses. I remember hearing them on several occasions as a child and I was lucky enough to share some of their unvaluable experience in a masterclass organised by UQAM. Our sincerest sympathies to the family.

Tonight, 10 p.m., as part of the Nuit Blanche, the OSM offers a free concert at Complexe Desjardins, in which it will play, among other things, John Adams’ Fast Ride in a Fast Machine. This short piece is joyfully exuberant and brilliantly scored for a large orchestra. The steady marking of a beat plays an important role, allowing the various rhythmic and melodic cells to be superimposed in an immense wave of musical energy. About the title, the composer says: “You know how it is when someone asks you to ride in a terrific sports car, and then you wish you hadn’t?”