Forestare

The meaning of the Latin word “Forestare,” which means “to create a forest,” has quite a history! This verb has something of the forest about it, being related to the German word “Forst,” and also evokes the outside, the elsewhere, through its origins in the Late Latin “foris.” Even today, Italians use the term “forestière” to refer to a foreigner, an “outsider.” In the Middle Ages, lords would exile farmers from their fiefdoms to create hunting grounds. Thus, they “created forests,” leaving crops fallow. This territory was called “foresta,” which gradually became the forest we know today. The forest, the elsewhere, is precisely where the ensemble wants to take the listener: outside of themselves, towards new horizons, to breathe in the splendors of musical flora.

The Forestare ensemble is made up of about fifteen young classical guitarists. With a dual focus on music and the environment, it gives considerable space to contemporary music, whether through commissioned works, arrangements, or privileged collaborations with artists who have made their mark on Quebec’s music scene, notably Richard Desjardins.