Sunday, February 15, 2004

By Marylynne Pitz, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Americans often appreciate artists from other countries, but they sometimes leave a theater or museum wondering about the cultural wellsprings that feed foreign actors, dancers, poets and visual artists.

Pittsburgh audiences now have a rare opportunity to see works never performed in the United States and immerse themselves in an international cauldron of creativity that has simmered for centuries in Quebec City and Montreal.

The Quebec Festival, which opens Saturday and runs through May 15, is the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's first international festival. Leaders from all three cities hope it will be the start of a beautiful friendship with the other event sponsor, New York-based Quebec Government House.

Organizers say the festival will offer a wide scope and deep context that no single performance could hope to offer.

"Pittsburgh is extremely fortunate to be able to have this quality and quantity of work," said trust President Kevin McMahon.

Quebec leaders initiated the partnership by inviting trust officials to Canada over the July Fourth weekend in 2002. The invitation's timing was right because the Pittsburgh Dance Council had recently become part of the trust and both organizations were looking to present new artists.

The festival's lineup includes indoor and outdoor art installations, performances by four internationally known contemporary dance companies and a film series that showcases Quebec modern films by Denys Arcand and Robert Lepage.

At Wood Street Galleries, you can hear an Internet broadcast that features eerie sounds from a grain silo in Montreal. The University of Pittsburgh will host two lectures on Quebec and offer a French language immersion weekend aimed at beginners or people who had high school French. At Carnegie Mellon University, prominent Quebec poets will read their work and perform a day later at the Gist Street Reading Series in the city's Uptown neighborhood. Two of Montreal's most innovative architects will discuss the architecture of Quebec at the Carnegie Museum of Art.

As Quebecois bring their culture here, they're hoping to also bring something back -- the techniques Pittsburgh Cultural Trust leaders used to create Downtown's thriving Cultural District. Both Quebec City and Montreal are "looking at how to create more private support for the artists," McMahon said.

Jean Frederic, a cultural attache from Quebec, will spend three months in Pittsburgh and live at The Pennsylvanian, serving as a liaison between the artists and trust officials. His command of both French and English has already proved helpful in booking films during long-distance calls, said Frances Egler, vice president of programming for the trust.

While the Canadian government supports the arts generously, that country's cultural leaders are trying to attract more support from individual donors, a skill many American arts leaders, including McMahon, have perfected.

Michel Robitaille, delegate general from Quebec Government House in New York City, will visit the city during the festival. Robitaille, a native of Quebec City, said his hometown boasts a unique European flavor that is mainly French but also sprinkled with other cultures. Italian, Greek, Jewish and other immigrants have been joined more recently by Eastern Europeans and Asians.

"They bring a new dimension to the culture," Robitaille said.

For example, a Gypsy influence is evident in the production of "Nomade" by Cirque Eloize, a theatrical troupe that uses circus artistry.

Another hallmark of Quebecois artists is their eagerness to engage with audiences, Robitaille said. After some of the performances, artists will talk with audience members and answer questions about their work.

Kathleen Buechel, president and treasurer of Alcoa Foundation, praised the trust for its efforts to select and present high-caliber performances.

"This is no easy undertaking, to mount something this ambitious over this period of time with this many moving parts. I think it's going well," she said.

Alcoa Foundation is contributing a $50,000 grant to the festival. About $40,000 will pay to finance artists' travel and $10,000 will fund educational programs. McMahon hopes the remainder of festival costs will be made up by ticket sales, which he hopes will generate between $300,000 to $400,000,

Alcoa Foundation makes grants in about 32 countries, aiming to enhance the quality of life where Alcoa has facilities. Quebec is especially important to the company.

"We've got three smelters there and two other facilities. We have a strong work force there. In our funding in Pittsburgh, we've been seeking ways to bring the world to Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh to the world. This was the perfect intersection for us," Buechel said.

In years past, Alcoa Foundation funded the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra's trip to Sao Paolo, Brazil, headquarters of the aluminum producer's Latin America business. The foundation also paid to send "Aluminum By Design," an exhibit seen at The Carnegie Museum of Art, to Montreal's Musee De Beaux Arts.

The Quebec Festival's educational programs will help the trust "reach out to the area universities, to filmmakers, to high school students," Buechel said.

"It's one thing to bring artists of this caliber to Pittsburgh. It's another to share it with students, and we want to do both," she said.

"Everything I've read and heard about these artists is that they are world-class. I think we're going to be bowled over."

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