Founded in 1998, the Société philharmonique du Nouveau Monde (SPNM) brings together four musical groups: a professional orchestra, the Orchestre philharmonique du Nouveau Monde (OPNM), and three choirs, the Chœur philharmonique du Nouveau Monde • Montreal, the Choeur philharmonique du Nouveau Monde • Basses-Laurentides (Les Chanteurs de Sainte – Thérèse from 1961 to 2019) and the Choeur philharmonique du Nouveau Monde • Ottawa (the Ottawa Classical Choir until 2021). Under the direction of a single conductor, Maestro Michel Brousseau, these four entities combine their talents to perform the great works of the classical repertoire for choir and orchestra (see https://spnm.ca/repertoire/ for the list of concerts of the 15 last years).

The regrouping of these three choral ensembles, accompanied by a professional orchestra (and sometimes professional soloists) succeeds, with a lot of passion and brio, the feat of uniting all these voices as a single breath, while magnifying the loudness and quality of interpretation. The unique and original experience of learning and presenting the same work under the baton of a single conductor paves the way for unparalleled sound harmonization. The varied repertoire for choir and orchestra makes it possible to offer professional-quality concerts in different regions of Quebec and Ontario. The establishment of a virtual choir unit also provides the opportunity for choristers from various regions to join the SPNM through the internet. The projects are there and the choirs and the orchestra continue to perform together, 4 to 8 times a year, in each of their hometowns, in addition to participating in various music festivals or offering special concerts, as was the case for fifteen years when the SPNM presented each year Mozart’s Requiem at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal.

Abroad, the group changes its name and becomes the International Choir, exclusively dedicated to tours outside of Canada. Under this name, choristers from the four choirs have toured in Europe and the United States since 2008.