The second decade of Les Violons du Roy

On July 28, 2004, Les Violons du Roy made their debut on the prestigious stage of Amsterdam's Concertgebouw alongside Magdalena Kožená, four years after first meeting the charismatic mezzo-soprano at the Festival de Lanaudière. For many of the orchestra's musicians, this concert remains one of the finest and most memorable of their respective careers. It represents the culmination of an extremely busy second decade, which has been decisive for the future. Nine of the current 15 permanent musicians joined the orchestra during this period.

From 1994-1995 to 2003-2004, Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Québec set many milestones that gradually established the reputation and influence of the two ensembles founded by Bernard Labadie. Major administrative challenges followed. A dozen recordings were added, as well as some fifteen international tours that took the orchestra to eight countries, including the United States, Morocco, the United Kingdom and Austria.

As early as 1994, Les Violons du Roy received a Prix d'excellence de la Ville de Québec for “their exceptional development, high artistic quality and outreach” as part of the Gala des Prix d'excellence de la Culture. The CD Stabat Mater by Pergolesi and Vivaldi, recorded with soprano Dorothea Röschmann and mezzo-soprano Catherine Robbin, attracts the attention of the specialized press as far afield as Australia, and receives nominations for a Prix CLASSIQUE at Cannes and a JUNO award.

The same year, Bernard Labadie becomes artistic director of the Opéra de Québec, opening the door to guest conductors at Les Violons du Roy. Yuli Turovsky (1939-2013), founder of I Musici de Montréal, was one of the first.

In 1995, the orchestra made its Toronto debut at the Glenn Gould Studio. In 1996, it presented the inaugural concert of the new Domaine Forget concert hall in Charlevoix.

In August 1997, following the success of their Dorian CDs, Les Violons du Roy made their New York debut at Lincoln Center, as part of the prestigious Mostly Mozart Festival (1966-2023). This concert, hailed by the New York Times critics, was to prove decisive in the development of their American tours, including a first-ever tour of California in the spring of 1998, with Karina Gauvin and Marie-Nicole Lemieux.

In September 1997, after a number of isolated, high-profile forays into Montreal, thanks in particular to invitations from the Société Pro Musica and a Handel Messiah enthusiastically received by audiences and critics at McGill University's Salle Pollack in 1994, Les Violons du Roy inaugurated their first Montreal concert season at the Université de Montréal's Salle Claude-Champagne, with Bernard Labadie's brand-new arrangement of the Goldberg Variations for his colleagues.

The same year, the orchestra presented its first Messiah in Toronto and on tour across Ontario, exceptionally with the choir of the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal. The experience would be repeated several times over the following seasons with La Chapelle de Québec, which now recruited its choristers across Canada, mainly in Montreal and Quebec City. In 1998, Les Violons du Roy made their debut at the Opéra de Québec, in a production of Mozart's Marriage of Figaro directed by Serge Denoncourt.

In 2001, following a series of auditions, Les Violons du Roy appointed its first conductor-in-residence, Jean-Marie Zeitouni, a graduate of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. From 2001 to 2012, Jean-Marie Zeitouni will work successively as conductor-in-residence, associate conductor and principal guest conductor. He will make a major contribution to expanding the orchestra's repertoire, as well as developing its educational, corporate and community activities.

In the fall of 2001, Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Québec embark on a Mozart Requiem three-concert tour of New York State, a few days after the September 11 attacks. The September 20 performance at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall was captured by Dorian. It was released on CD the following year and won a Juno Award. The album will be reissued by ATMA in 2015.

In 2004, following the sale of Dorian to Sono Luminous, the orchestra records its first CD on the ATMA label at Domaine Forget. Throughout this decade, Les Violons du Roy are “homeless” in Quebec City, performing in a variety of venues, including Saint-Dominique Church, the Palais Montcalm, the Chapelle du Bon-Pasteur, and sometimes the Grand Théâtre de Québec. On the horizon, the dream of a Palais Montcalm equipped with a quality concert hall is being discussed and looks set to become a reality...