When in 1608 Samuel de Champlain founded the settlement Quebec somewhere in the Canadian wilderness only 9 out of 29 people survived the first winter. 150 years later Quebec has become the lively capital of the province Newfrance. Even today, in an independent Canada the French Canadians insist on their own language and identity. Les Musiciens de Saint-Julien - "Ensemble in Residence" at the Music Festival 2016 - follow the first immigrants from western France and the British Isles all the way to Canada and rummage through their luggage. As they ramble across parlours, saloons and dance floors both in the old and the new world, they find an inexhaustible repertoire of traditional songs and dances - which were also always a source of inspiration for great composers.