MUSIQUE MULTI-MONTRÉAL, MMM for short, is a production and broadcasting organisation, dedicating itself to the safeguard, enhancement and advancement of music stemming from the world’s great traditions. Thanks to its meetings and auditions, MMM helps launch the career of dozens of local and foreign artists each year. This is done through creation and broadcast activities, the initiation of a hundred shows every year in Quebec, Canada and abroad, in addition to the co-presentation of prestigious series (Radio-concerts au bout du monde, Un printemps pour tout l'monde, Tous sous un même soleil, Les concertis sous la pergola), and culminating each spring with the MMM Music AND People Festival. This unique event presents music as the receptacle of great meetings and multicultural connections, where artistic creation is a pretext for convergence and gatherings.

For MMM, music is a privileged means of communication between cultures: it puts Quebec audiences in contact with other cultures, often for the first time. The organization encourages artistic creation, which it considers a novel way of affirming identities in contemporary society. It creates new repertoires, new alliances and, most importantly, breeds new and local music.

Thanks to its solid reputation and privileged links with many broadcasters, community organisations, practitioners of the performing arts and artistic groups all over the country, the MMM agency counsels and accompanies its artists during the process of their integration into Montreal's cultural industry.

History

Musique Multi-Montreal was born in 1991 at Patro-le-Prévost, in the Villeray-Saint-Michel-Parc-Extension neighbourhood. At the time, the organisation’s objectives were to identify the neighbourhood’s ethnocultural musical groups and bring them together in a professional environment. Despite modest resources, the first edition, a one-evening event, was successful and had a significant impact on the ethnic communities and professional groups in attendance. For its second edition, the showcase concept took shape to render world music more accessible to the public and offer audiences a diversified show. It too was an overwhelming success. It was clear that there was sufficient interest to repeat the event the following year and to expand it in order to include the rest of Montreal.

“A festival such as Multi-Montreal’s exists to make up for a flagrant lack of broadcasting. Good news, it is growing at an incredible pace.”
Patrick Marsolais, VOIR, 1994  


Showcasing over 1,000 talents in just a decade
As years passed, the showcase grew, attracting more and more big names from the international scene and winning many prestigious prizes. Musical blending and artistic risk-taking rapidly become the event’s signature. In 1996, the showcase, now a festival, finally makes the leap to a professional concert room, the Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui. 1996 also marks the creation of the MMM Agency in response to the ever-growing demand by broadcasters and audiences for world music.

“At MMM, we do not only discover artists. We also contribute to the integration of cultural communities.”
Daniel Germain, l’Actualité, 1998

Today, 16 years later, Musique Multi-Montréal has become the reference in world music, as much for Canadian broadcasters as for audiences. It is a pool of musical discoveries and a mine of hidden treasures. 

“Which one of our festivals offers only original discoveries? Just one: Musique Multi-Montréal, the ultimate platform for artists coming from the cultural communities transplanted on this island.”
Alain Brunet, La Presse, 1999

MMM in numbers

Musique Multi-Montréal has collaborated with over 250 broadcasters, presented over 1 000 shows in Quebec, Canada, the US, and even Egypt. Its team has listened to and classified 1,000 Montreal groups, has introduced dozens across the province and has supported many who now have enviable careers, such as Lhasa de Sela, Carlos Placeres and Soraya Benitez.

Read about what the media and the artists have to say by clicking here.


The awards

Since its founding, MMM has received the following distinctions:

1992 – Winner of the intercultural facilitation award from Radio Centre-Ville, official broadcaster of MMM
1995 - Nominated to the ADISQ for the album 'Empreinte' in the World Music category
1996 – Winner of the Quebec broadcasters’ prize of excellence for the 10-part series «Portraits d’artistes MMM», broadcast on the Vidéotron channel.
1999 – Guest participant for the Mission du Québec in California
2002 - Nomination for the Opus Award for Concert of the Year in the Jazz/World Music category, for the concert Poussières d’Étoiles
2003 – Nominated for a Coup D’éclat prize for original programming for the website and promotional flyer
2003 – Nomination for the Opus Award for Concert of the Year in the Jazz/World Music category, for the 'Les Pérégrins' concert
2004 – Winner of the Opus Award for Musical Event of the Year
2005 – Winner of the Coup d’Éclat Award for the promotional flyer in 2005 and nomination for the poster.