In 1978, Romulo Larrea arrived in Montreal, from Uruguay. With two years experience as a bandoneonist, he performed with Montreal’ s first tango group, Tango x 4, an initiative of Ramon Pelinski. The group would later become Quartango who produced Quebec’ s first tango album in 1984, Musica Viva,. Romulo Larrea defines himself as a passionate dreamer of wonderful music. He sees the ensemble as the success of an immigrant artist in the process of integrating into his host country. The objective has been to preserve an authentic tango, with the collaboration of local musicians. Through his involvement for over 35 years in the diffusion of tango through prestigious tours and a collection of tango albums, he lives his dream. And this was done with a fundamental presence of Quebec musicians— a successful integration via music!
Quartango, for its part, has become very active internationally, with eight albums and numerous awards to its name. Popular with the public, as well as critics, Quartango offers a nuanced music of mixed colors, both anchored in the classical tradition and modernity with an effervescence for live perfomances.
Since the late 1990s, the popularity of tango has grown substantially in Montreal. Several new musical groups have made their appearance, providing a variety of different styles. from traditional tango to contemporary and nuevo to tango blended with folkloric or classical music.
Intakto is a musical group that was formed in 1995 with Alejandro Venegas, singer-guitarist of Chilean origin and Quebec’ s Simon Claude( violin), Hugo Larenas( guitar), Sébastien Pellerin( double bass) and Éric Breton( percussion). Their first album, Intakto, earned them a Prix Félix in 2002. Their second, Todavía, was released in 2007. The band found success on the local and international music scene. In 2016, they launched Lazos, an album of which they describe as an album of true and enduring friendship, the best kind of antidote to the passage of time..
In 1998, pianist Victor Simon formed Ensemble Montreal Tango with Carmen Piculeata( violin) and Christophe Papadimitriou( double bass). In 2000, the ensemble presented the show Tango Tango with Uruguayan bandoneonist Nestor Vaz Chaves. Denis Plante joined the ensemble in 2005 and they gave a concert at the Festival de Lanaudière. The ensemble is identified as one of the new cornerstones of tango nuevo in Quebec. In 2008, they recorded several albums, including Enamorada. Victor Simon also developed courses on the interpretation of tango music for dancers, during which he played the piano, to the delight of the participants.
Sweatshop Tango was created in the 2000s. It is a Montreal quintet of young musicians from Argentina and Canada. Inspired by Astor Piazzolla and other composers such as Rodolfos Mederos and Gustavo Beytelmann. They skillfully play music from nuevo with an authentic touch. The group brings together musicologist Jonathan Goldman( accordion), Chantale Bergeron( violin), Amy Zanrosso( piano), Pablo Seib( double bass) and Pablo Bonacina( guitar) in an interesting tango language discovery.
“ Le tango, comme musique, comme émotion, comme expérience, comme geste, reste”
Tango, as music, as emotion, as experience, as gesture, remains relevant! To be alive, the tango must have live music!
— Damian Nisenson
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