Miriodor was founded in Quebec City, 1980 by Francois Emond (and Pascal Globensky). There were many musicians who came and went before the band became a sextet in 1983. Francois Emond (violin and flute, keyboards, clarinet), Pascal Globensky, (keyboards), Remi Leclerc, Sabin Hudon, Sabin Hudon (saxophones), Denis Robitaille, (electric guitar, bass), singing, and Marc Petitclerc were the members of the line-up. This was the crew for the first album “Rencontres”. The self-produced LP has been out of print since then. Cuneiform Records is Miriodor’s original record label since 1988. Francois, Pascal Remi, Remi, and Sabin made Montreal their home in 1984. These recordings are now available as additional material on the reissued album “Miriodor”. One of these pieces was Middle Ages. It was published in the audio magazine ReR Quarterly by Recommended Records, a company headed by Chris Cutler. Francois Emond, now in the band as a trio, left the group in early 1987. Sabin, Pascal, and Remi experimented with new technologies, notably MIDI, which allowed them to create a full orchestral sound. The trio recorded “Miriodor”, in the first half of 1988. They played at the Festival International de Musique Actuelle de Victoriaville (fall 1988) and toured France and Belgium in March 1989, with the help of l’Agence Quebec/Wallonie-Bruxelles pour la jeunesse. It’s 1991 and the release of “Third Warning”, with the band as a trio. They also participated in the Festival des musiques du creation du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean as well as the International Computer Music Congress. End 1993 saw the addition of Bernard Falaise (electric guitar, bass). Recording of “Promenade sous zero”, a quartet piece for the Cuneiform Records compilation Unsettled Scores. This piece is a medley of pieces taken from two Belgian bands Present and Univers Zero. 1996 saw the release “Elastic Juggling” from the trio, along with many guest musicians. During the recording of this album, Sabin Hudon quit the band. The band performed at ProgScape’96 in Baltimore (USA), on June 29th. They also played at the Montreal Jazz Festival, on July 5th. They then played at La Maison du Quebec, St-Malo (France), the last week in August ’96. These concerts were completed by Nicolas Masino (bass and keyboards). He was an integral part of the band quickly and has been a regular member ever since. The band was renamed a quintet in 1998 with the additions of Nicolas Masino (saxophones) and Marie-Chantal Leclair. They also worked on a new repertoire. Miriodor recorded and composed a music score in 1999 for “Almanach”, which was a documentary about the passage to the next millenium. Denys Desjardins directed the movie and it was produced by Canada’s National Film Board. The band performed at the Hot House in Chicago, and Edgefest in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in October 2000. In September 2001, the fifth album, “Mekano”, was released. The band was reformed to a sextet with the addition of Marie-Soleil Belanger (violin). Miriodor is invited to the NEARfest festival in Trenton (NJ) in 2002 after the release of the record. The band receives such a positive response that they are invited back for the pre-festival show the next year. Miriodor performed at Edgefest again in autumn 2004. Frogg Cafe shared a bill with Miriodor and the band completed production on its next album, Parade Live at NEARfest2002”. It was released in May 2005. A few pieces were co-written by Lars Hollmer, the legendary Lars Hollmer from Samlas Mammas Manna. Miriodor will be performing this material in April 2005 as the Day-1 headliner at the Gouveia Rock Festival in Portugal. Chantal Bergeron played the violin, and Lars Hollmer (and Michel Berckmans) were special guests. The band performed at the Guelph Jazz Festival in fall 2005. They were also the opening act for Present in Montreal. In 2006 and 2007, Miriodor was on the Festival de Musique Progressive de Montreal. Miriodor was also working on their seventh album “Avanti!” which was released in May 2009. http://miriodor.com
