La mémoire de ma mère

In a fragmented room, memories come to light and take shape. Familiar objects become the triggers of an exuberant ceremony. Voices sing of what disappears, what remains, and what resists. The call of the red-headed woodpecker, the shores of the St. Lawrence, love stories, a mother’s memory, vernacular architecture, jangling coins, road maps, silence—how do we stand in the face of their inevitable fading?

Blending music and performance, La mémoire de ma mère is a shifting space where the personal touches the collective, where ghosts show up unannounced, where we celebrate, long, regret, and begin again. The performers play with traces of the past as one might invent a ritual—nostalgic and festive all at once.

As always, music is at the heart of it all. Much like memory—layered, preserved, interwoven with both logical and serendipitous connections—this new creation explores a wildly eclectic repertoire. With their signature flair, L’orchestre d’hommes-orchestres stitches together a patchwork theatre of impulses, embracing our inheritances full-heartedly and toasting what’s to come.

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Design and musical direction: L’orchestre d’hommes-orchestres and guest performers

Accomplice of All Permissions: Laurence Brunelle-Côté

Performance: Bruno Bouchard, Jasmin Cloutier, Simon Elmaleh, Benoît Fortier, Philippe Lessard-Drolet, and Danya Ortmann

Sound Design: L’orchestre d’hommes-orchestres and Frédéric Auger

Lighting Design: Philippe Lessard-Drolet

Texts and Music: Charles Aznavour, Henri Bauchau, Bertold Brecht, John Benson Brooks, Irving Berlin, Laurence Brunelle-Côté, Peter Cornelius, Harold Courlander, John Dryden, Hans Eisler, Ahmet Ertegun, Christopher Fishburn, Louise Fortin, Porter Grainger, Butch Hawes, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins, Caspar Henderson, Chris Isaak, Nehemia “Skip” James, Sylvie Laliberté, Félix Leclerc, Nadine Lizotte, Betty Nelson, Elthea Peale, Pierre Perrault, Henry Purcell, Jean-Baptiste Rameau, Everett Robbins, Marcel Stellman, Myriam Suchet, Anne Sylvestre, Georgian Traditional, Élise Turcotte and Tom Waits.

Arrangements: L’orchestre d’hommes-orchestres

Sound and Technical Direction: Frédéric Auger

Lighting Operation: Laurie Foster

Assistant to Stage Direction: Jeanne Théberge

Photos: Caroline Grégoire et Jacynthe Carrier

Video: Alexandre Berthier

Project supported by Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and Entente de développement culturel MCC-Ville de Québec.