Critic's choice
Festival
Cinemania 2026
CINEMANIA 2026: Francophone series in the spotlight for a 32nd edition rich in discoveries
From November 4 to 15, 2026, the CINEMANIA Festival returns to Montreal for its 32nd edition with an eclectic lineup of feature films, documentaries, and short films from across the Francophonie.
A major new addition: the Francophone Series Days, starting November 2, will bring together 16 series, presented as two episodes per title. Nine Quebec productions, one from Manitoba, and six international works will showcase the diversity of storytelling and the vitality of French-language series creation.
A major gathering for Francophone cinema in North America since 1995, CINEMANIA will also offer artist meetings, conferences, and masterclasses to extend the discoveries beyond screenings.
On the cinema side, the "Visages de la francophonie" and "Films du Québec" competitions will stand alongside retrospectives and special screenings. The Belgique francophone will be the guest of honor, while the Luxembourgish cine-concert EUROPE: LA BATAILLE DES SIÈGES, presented on November 7 at the Monument-National, will bring documentary film and live music into dialogue.
An autumnal gathering to discover new talents and celebrate Francophone cinema and series!
Concours de Genève 2026
Discover the future stars of the international stage!
From November 6 to 13, 2026, the Concours de Genève celebrates its 80th edition, devoted to Orchestral Conducting and Composition.
Chaired by Bertrand de Billy, the Conducting Competition enters its decisive phase! After the first rounds in 2025, six young conductors will gather in Geneva for the semi-finals, from November 7 to 9, leading three prestigious ensembles: the Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, the Ensemble Contrechamps and the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande. The grand final will take place on November 13 at Victoria Hall.
Under the chairmanship of composer Unsuk Chin, the Composition Competition will bring together three finalists from Hong Kong, South Korea and Brazil. The highlight of this edition is an unprecedented joint final on November 11 at Victoria Hall, where the finalists’ symphonic works will receive their world premieres by the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, conducted by the finalists of the Conducting Competition.
The festivities will open on November 6 with a concert featuring two former laureates, pianist Kevin Chen and cellist Michiaki Ueno.
A week of musical discoveries not to be missed!
Czech Philharmonic, Shostakovich Symphonies 5 and 7
The Czech Philharmonic, under Chief Conductor and Music Director Semyon Bychkov, presents two of Dmitri Shostakovich’s most powerful symphonic statements: his Fifth and Seventh Symphonies. For Bychkov, no music is more essential or closer to the bone than Shostakovich's: "What amazes me is how strongly Shostakovich’s existential music resonates in a world which seems, outwardly, very different from the one in which he was fighting for his life, both as a human being and a composer."
Like Shostakovich, Bychkov grew up in Leningrad (now St Petersburg) and became obsessed by the composer’s music from an early age. Symphony No. 5 has been part of his repertoire since the early 1970s, when he began conducting it as a student at the Leningrad Conservatory. Symphony No. 7, Leningrad, holds particular personal significance for Bychkov: his mother lived through the city’s 900-day siege during the Second World War.
This release continues the acclaimed partnership between the Czech Philharmonic, Semyon Bychkov and PENTATONE. Their most recent major project, the complete Mahler symphonies cycle, began in April 2022 and culminated in April 2026. In celebration of the Year of Czech Music 2024, they released Smetana’s Má vlast, which won the BBC Music Magazine Orchestral Award 2025, and Dvořák’s Symphonies Nos. 7–9.