An entirely free event from July 7 to 10: A roaring start for the first Montreal Musician and Musical Instrument Show!

Montreal, Friday, July 8, 2005 —The first day of the Montreal Musician and Musical Instrument Show was a smashing success, with over 25,000 festival goers and amateur and professional musicians visiting the 41 stands of participating exhibitors, clearly demonstrating demand for such an event. The MMMIS offers numerous free activities, all of which were extremely well-attended for its very first day. Visitors snapped up all available spaces, listening in rapt attention as a number of invited artists (including Pat Metheny, Paolo Fesu and Terence Blanchard) were interviewed or hosted workshops. The sheer diversity of things to do kept amateur musicians and music students very busy, many of them carefully planning their trajectory through the show to pack as much as possible into their first visit. Between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m., faces told the whole story as visitors tried new instruments, sat in on workshops or jammed on their guitars well into the night.

Exhibitors seemed just as satisfied with the inaugural day of the MMMIS. Many expressed amazement that so many amateur and professional musicians not only showed up but stayed for the duration. A highlight of the afternoon was when Manu Katche showed up at the Steve’s Music Store stand, generously signing autographs to the casually gathered crowd. A number of guitarists also took the time to bring their instruments, jamming along with everyone else for the Paul Deslauriers acoustic jam session at evening’s end. And that was just the first of four nights…

This latest addition to the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal is a North-American first, presented in collaboration with General Motors of Canada. The non-profit event is entirely free of charge and designed to promote music-making in its diverse aspects to as large a public as possible. The idea is to give visitors the opportunity to try the musical instruments of the 40 or so exhibitors and gain insight into the musician’s life by attending workshops and meeting up with the many world-famous artists on hand to answer their questions.

The Montreal Musician and Musical Instrument Show is an international event that will further position Montreal and its fabulous jazz festival as the biggest musical showcase in the world. For all details concerning the show, just visit the MMMIS Internet site at: www.simmm.ca

. The first edition of the Montreal Musician and Musical Instrument Show is entirely free of charge and takes place from July 7 to 10, inclusively as part of the 26th edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal. Don’t miss it!

Source:
Festival International de Jazz de Montréal – Press Room : (514) 288 5544

Media Information: Myriam Achard, Media Relations Director - (514) 288 5544 ; [email protected]
Marie Eve Boisvert, Press Attachée - (514) 288 5544 ; [email protected]
Sophie Desbiens, International and Travel Media Relations – (514) 288 5544 ; [email protected]
Alain Des Ruisseaux, Press Attaché – (514) 288 5544 ; [email protected]

Public Information:
Bell Info Jazz Line – (514) 871 1881 or toll free 1 888 515 0515 ; www.montrealjazzfest.com