Montreal – Canada’s public broadcaster is proud to unveil a slate of special programming in tribute to Leonard Cohen, the Montreal-born writer, composer, performer and man of letters, on the one year anniversary of his death. The announcement comes ahead of the opening of the exhibition Leonard Cohen: Une brèche en toute chose / A Crack in Everything, presented by CBC/Radio-Canada at the Musée d’art contemporain (MAC).
CBC/Radio-Canada will broadcast Monday’s star-studded tribute concert at the Bell Centre in Montreal,Tower of Song: A Memorial Tribute to Leonard Cohen, the next day, Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC Radio 2, CBCMusic.ca, ICI MUSIQUE and ICIMusique.ca. The commemorative event, with all proceeds going to the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Conseil des arts de Montréal, will feature renowned artists including BØRNS, CŒUR DE PIRATE, ELVIS COSTELLO, LANA DEL REY, FEIST, K.D. LANG, BETTYE LAVETTE, COURTNEY LOVE, DAMIEN RICE, SETH ROGEN, RON SEXSMITH, STING, PATRICK WATSON, WESLEY SCHULTZ & JEREMIAH FRAITES OF THE LUMINEERS and ADAM COHEN. The concert will also be televised onWednesday,Jan. 3, 2018 at 8 p.m. (8:30 p.m. NT) on CBC and ICI RADIO-CANADA TÉLÉ.
A mobile app to explore Cohen’s Montreal
Admirers of the iconic singer-songwriter, artist and poet can immerse themselves in his world with a downloadable application called Detour. Available via CBC.ca/cohen as of Nov. 9, two mobile tours will lead users through the Montreal neighbourhoods that inspired Leonard Cohen’s novels, poems and music. Narrated by singer-songwriter Martha Wainwright, Leonard Cohen’s Neighbourhood and the Leonard Cohen Extended City Tour on the Detour app will take strollers from the sites of the 1950s cafés where Cohen wrote his earliest poems to Parc du Portugal, just steps from his final home in the city.
Leonard Cohen in words and music on CBC/Radio-Canada’s multiple platforms
In addition to these initiatives, CBC/Radio-Canada’s many platforms will feature a variety of content devoted to the artist.
On Radio
CBC Radio has a special lineup of programs exploring Leonard Cohen’s monumental body of work. Leading up to the tribute concert in Montreal, host Raina Douris will take Radio 2 Morning listeners through The Essential Tracks of Leonard Cohen, beginning Nov. 3 at 8:30 a.m. (9 a.m. NT). Later that evening, Radio 2 Drive will air a one hour Deep Dive special at 6 p.m. (6:30 p.m. NT) exploring songs from Cohen’s 1967 debut Songs of Leonard Cohen.
CBC Radio One will present a special episode ofWriters and Company with Eleanor Wachtel, which includes an interview with Sylvie Simmons, the biographer behind I’m Your Man – La vie de Leonard Cohen at the Musée d’art contemporain in front of a live audience on Nov 6. At 1p.m. (Tickets available at the Museum. Free Admission) It will broadcast on Nov. 12 at 3 p.m. ET & AT, 3:30 p.m. NT, 5 p.m. PT, MT & CT.
On Radio-Canada, ICI MUSIQUE will present a web radio stream dedicated exclusively to Cohen, along with special programs highlighting the singer/songwriter’s impact and influence on an entire generation of musicians. All content will be atICIMusique.ca/leonardcohen. A special all-Cohen edition ofOn dira ce qu’on voudra will air on ICI RADIO-CANADA PREMIÈRE on Nov. 7 at 8:30 p.m. In his life as well as his work, Leonard Cohen was a great traveller. Host Rebecca Makonnen and her team of contributors will explore various Montreal neighbourhoods in the company of musicians Adam Cohen and Martha Wainwright, visual artist Armand Vaillancourt, and writer/researcher Chantal Ringuet. The digital on-demand radio service Première PLUS will be mining a treasure trove of interviews and archival materials at Radio-Canada.ca/premiereplus.
On Television
On television, the Nov. 6 broadcast of Les grands reportages on ICI RDI , at 8 p.m., will feature Mesdames et messieurs, M. Leonard Cohen (Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr. Leonard Cohen), a 1965 documentary that paints an unconventional black-and-white portrait of the 30-year-old Cohen, then known mainly as a poet, strolling the streets of his native Montreal. In its Artistes en vedette time slot on Monday, Nov. 13, ICI ARTV will pay tribute to the artist beginning at 9 p.m. with the documentary Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything, followed at 10 p.m. by Leonard Cohen en concert à Londres (Leonard Cohen: Live in London), and concluding at 11:30 p.m. with a repeat of Mesdames et messieurs, M. Leonard Cohen.
Online
CBC Montreal, CBC Arts ' online feed and CBC Arts: Exhibitionists will feature a selection of new and archival stories that complement the concert, including exclusive commissioned material from Musée d’art contemporain exhibit Leonard Cohen: Une brèche en toute chose / A Crack in Everything.
Throughout November, CBC Montreal will have special digital and social content including a sneak peek inside the Leonard Cohen: Une brèche en toute chose / A Crack in Everything exhibit at the Musée d’art contemporain (MAC), artist interviews, Facebook live, live blog, Cohen quiz and a digital feature exploring the artist’s lasting impact on Montreal.
CBC Music will share 80 reasons to love Leonard Cohen, A Map of Cohen’s Montreal and other new and archived Cohen content across the CBC Music homepage and social channels.
With this rich array of content and initiatives unfolding on all of its platforms, CBC/Radio-Canada is exceedingly proud to present cross-Canada celebrations of the life and work of the late Leonard Cohen, a truly singular artist whose words and music continue to resonate all over the world.
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For more information, please contact:
Teaghan Hawke
CBC
Publicist – CBC Music
Marc Pichette
Premier directeur, Relations publiques et Promotion
Direction générale, Communications, Marketing et Marque
Radio-Canada
