A new non-profit organization known as Abercorn Lyrique is launching the first edition of its “Lyrical Art Festival” in the village of Abercorn. 

Abercorn Lyrique was founded by local resident Marie Léonard with a mission to introduce lyrical art to the region of Brome-Missisquoi and to offer musical diversity through a series of concerts.

According to Léonard, lyrical art involves learning a number of different techniques to establish a voice that is powerful enough to sing without a microphone and that moves people emotionally, i.e. the lyrical voice. These techniques include breath control to maximize the pulmonary capacity, developing the extremes of the voice through vocalise ( a vocal exercise without words), major and minor scales, and arpeggios (vocal exercise for pitch), and working on overtones (harmonies).  A video on Abercorn Lyrique's Facebook page by  Chantal Lambert - founder of L'Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal - explained that lyric artists use these techniques to reach "maximum expression, vibrancy, and emotion" in their voice. In lyrical art, artists serve as the "poets" and the "composers" of whatever lyrical work they choose to perform and it also involves a heavy stage presence.

“It requires many years of preparation to obtain that type of voice. A lot of breathing techniques are involved in it, a lot of emotion is involved in it, and it’s very complex,” she told CIDI in an interview.

The lyrical art festival will be taking place in the recently revitalized All Saints Church, which now serves as a cultural centre for Abercorn. According to Léonard, a group called Concerts et Rencontres Champêtres previously put on classical concerts at the cultural centre one weekend a month during the summer period, but the group is currently on pause. As a result, she wanted to bring a new experience to the community and fill the cultural centre with music once again. 

“We have a wonderful place to do the concerts and not much has happened so far in this church, so we want to put some life into it. We’ve had the chance to have some classical concerts in previous years between 2013 and 2019. One weekend per summer, we had beautiful concerts that were more instrumental. The team that is organizing this is on pause right now, but hopefully they will come back,” explained Léonard. “We wanted to do something a bit different and offer the lyrical voice to the people for them to discover it.”

Léonard described music as being “a soothing thing for the soul,” which is why she decided to share the lyrical art form with Townshippers.

“The more we have, the better we are. It’s also just the fact that somebody has got to do something sometimes, you know? I just decided to go for it because that’s what I wanted to offer. I’ve known lyrical art for many years - since I’ve been a member of Opera Montreal - and I have many friends that are lyrical singers, that’s why I want to bring it to the people,” Léonard highlighted. 

The Lyrical Art Festival will showcase a number of internationally-known Quebecois artists. The goal for Abercorn Lyrique is to contribute to the “cultural life” of Brome-Missisquoi.

“We want to make it accessible to people, not just the experts or the ones already sold on this art, but we hope to have new people discover it if they don’t already know it. (…) We have a varied program from beautiful pieces by Mozart to pieces from today’s artists, we cover 300 years of music,” highlighted Léonard. “The young singers that are internationally-known - we are lucky to have them - will also do some duos and trios. That is always very fun to hear when you have a mix of voices, it’s very pleasant. That’s the first night.” 

On the second night of the festival, attendees will have the chance to hear French songs from the 19th and 20th centuries, with one special composition for the English-speaking community. 

Léonard noted that Brome-Missisquoi is a “strong artistic region” with artists “of all kinds,” which Abercorn Lyrique hopes to showcase at future festivals. 

“We need full houses right now because we need to make sure this is a success to push us forward. We have so many young artists that we’d like to invite for future productions, but we need to make sure that people are willing to attend and that they are interested,” said Léonard. “(…) That’s the ultimate goal.” 

The Lyrical Art Festival is taking place on August 25 and August 26. For more information about lyrical art and ticket prices, go to Abercorn Lyrique’s Facebook page.