Brownstein: Tragic death of Boris Brott shocks music world

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The freakishly tragic death of beloved Montreal-born maestro Boris Brott has sent shock waves through the music world and beyond.

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Brott, the artistic director and conductor of the Orchester classique de Montréal (OCM), died Tuesday after being struck by a car in a hit-and-run while walking in Hamilton, Ont. Brott had also been the director of Hamilton’s National Academy Orchestra of Canada and the Brott Music Festival.

An Officer of the Order of Canada, Brott was one of the most internationally respected Canadian orchestra leaders, having conducted on some of the most celebrated stages in the US and Europe. He hailed from Canadian musical royalty himself, the son of Alexander and Lotte Brott, the founders of the McGill Chamber Orchestra (before it became the OCM). He was also the brother of famed Montreal cellist Denis Brott.

Brott was 78, but he had the boundless energy and enthusiasm of someone half his age. He was considered a visionary in his field and was a mentor to up-and-coming talent.

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Brott also had a deep social conscience. In one of its last concerts in Montreal on Feb. 15, the OCM presented the world premiere of Kurelek’s Gallery by Ukrainian-Canadian composer Larysa Kuzmenko, who was inspired by the paintings of Ukrainian-Canadian artist William Kurelek. Brott had dedicated the concert to the Ukrainian community in advance of the much-anticipated Russian invasion of Ukraine — which came nine days later.

Brott, whose roots were Ukrainian, had also been slated to direct the concert Tribute to Ukraine with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra on April 20, with all proceeds going to the Canadian Red Cross Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal. The concert will go on, in his memory.

In addition, Brott was a major proponent of bringing Indigenous music into the realm of classical music, having had the OCM commission several works by Indigenous composers and having presented a multi-media performance focusing on Saint Kateri of Kahnawake.

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“Boris believed that music could build bridges, could unite, could heal, and he wanted to bring classical music to Indigenous communities as well as to bring Indigenous voices and Indigenous expression to the broader society,” said Deborah Corber, the OCM chair of the board and close Brott friend.

“When I heard the news yesterday, I was just in shock. I loved the man. The reality has begun to set in, but I’m still trying to process it all. We talked about the future, about young musical and conducting talent. He had so much more music to make and people to promote. I have loved to give, and I have loved to live. It does not feel like it was his time. ”

OCM executive director Taras Kulish was still trying to come to terms with Brott’s death the next day.

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“I am absolutely shocked,” Kulish said. “It’s just such a tragedy. If he would have left five minutes later or five minutes earlier, this wouldn’t have happened.

“But just 24 hours later, it has become very clear to us that we have to pick up the pieces and continue Boris’s legacy, and he left behind a huge legacy. The man was a visionary, a man who throughout his entire career innovated. He was a person so dedicated to helping young musicians and making opportunities for them. Now we need to celebrate him.”

The OCM’s last performances, under the baton of Brott, were concert versions of the Bizet opera Carmen on March 8 and 9.

“To replace Boris will be impossible,” Kulish said. “Nobody will be able to fill his shoes with him. We have some ideas who might replace him in the short term, but in the long term that will take a bit more reflection.”

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Montreal music critic and Gazette contributor Arthur Kaptainis held Brott in high regard, noting that he had a well-formed conducting technique and that his most formative encounter was as an assistant conductor to Leonard Bernstein with the New York Philharmonic.

“He had very profound classical appreciation,” Kaptainis said. “He was a great communicator, and that meant a very good driver. He could put across a performance with clarity and conviction.

“Conductors can be austere, and Boris was naturally the opposite of this. That was the basis of his career. That was his natural way of him. I can assure you I never had Kent Nagano’s cell number, but I had Boris’s and he had mine. He didn’t mind calling me and reflecting on some observation I might have made in a review,” Kaptainis cracked.

It was his non-austere manner that also captivated Corber: “Boris wasn’t 78 years old. He was 78 years young. Of course, we will carry on. And, of course, we will try to live up to his high ideals of him. But it’s hard to think of the CMO without him.”

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