Suivre le cor classique

Since October 2017, Louis-Pierre Bergeron is the proud 4th horn of the National Arts Centre Orchestra.  Previously, he was 3rd horn with Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, 2nd horn with Orchestre Métropolitain, and solo horn with Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières.  He still collaborates frequently with Les Violons du Roy, in Québec City.  In Mars 2020, he will be soloist in Ferdinand Ries’ Concerto for two horns, with Louis-Philippe Marsolais and I Musici de Montréal.

Louis-Pierre studied with John Zirbel at McGill University and at the Aspen Music Festival and School, and the natural horn with Teunis van der Zwart at the Amsterdam Conservatory.  An avid champion of the natural horn, he performed and recorded with prestigious early music ensembles, notably the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra, Tafelmusik and Europa Galante.

Equally active in pop music, Louis-Pierre Bergeron founded in 2015 the Montreal Horn Stars, a brass quintet for which he is also arranger.  The group collaborates with artists such as Patrick Watson, Bernard Adamus, Louis-Jean Cormier and Klô Pelgag.  They performed at the Montreal Jazz Festival, at Francofolies de Montréal and at Festival d’été de Québec.

Louis-Pierre gives educational concerts with his woodwind quintet Ayorama, and for senior residents of healthcare establishments with Moon Palace, the duo he forms with his partner, the NACO cellist Julia MacLaine.

Angélique Duguay has been a member of Les Violons du Roy since 1996. Her studies were at McGill University with Thomas Williams, Richard Roberts and Mauricio Fuks, where she received both a Bachelor of Music and an Artist Diploma.

She began her career performing with Orchestre symphonique de Laval, Les Jeunes Virtuoses de Montréal, and other groups. She was also a member of Opéra Rouen’s Orchestre Léonard de Vinci during a stay in Europe. She continues to make regular appearances with Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Opéra de Montréal, and La Sinfonia de Lanaudière.

She was part of Les Violons du Roy’s Vivica Genaux, airs de Handel et Hasse recording on Virgin Classics and other recordings. She has also taken part in all Les Violons du Roy’s international tours and is much in demand for private recording sessions.

Angélique Duguay plays a Joseph Ceruti, Cremone violin, 1825, generously provided by CANIMEX INC. of Drummondville (Quebec).

Noëlla Bouchard joined Les Violons du Roy in 1995. Since then, she has played in several hundred concerts, some 30 international tours, and numerous recordings with this chamber orchestra in residence at Palais Montcalm – Maison de la musique in Quebec City.

Noëlla Bouchard began learning the violin at the age of five with Lucille Johnstone and continued her studies at Conservatoire de musique de Montréal from 1982 to 1992 in classes taught by Johanne Arel, Raymond Dessaints, Robert Verebes, Denis Brott, and Raffi Armenian. She earned her first award there in 1992. From 1992 to 1995 she continued to hone her skills with Moshe Hammer in Toronto. In 1994 she was a finalist at the International Stepping Stone Canadian Music Competition in Vancouver.  She has participated in a number of workshops at Domaine Forget, Camp musical des Laurentides, and Orford Musique.

In recent years, Noëlla Bouchard has been invited to Concerts du Bic (2016) and the Music and Beyond Festival in Ottawa (2018) and has played on a recording of André Mathieu’s chamber music with pianist Jean-Michel Dubé (2019).

At the age of eleven, Jean-Louis Blouin began to concentrate on the viola. From 1989 to 1993 he studied at the Montréal Conservatory, where he obtained a higher education diploma. He then studied with Jutta Puchhammer at the University of Montréal, where he completed a Master’s degree in interpretation.

Since 1996, Jean-Louis Blouin has been a permanent member of Les Violons du Roy and appears in several of the group’s recordings, including J.S. Bach’s Art of Fugue and Psalm 51. His interest in Baroque music and experience with early instruments has also led to performances with other specialized groups, primarily as a violist but also on the Baroque violin.

Audiences have heard him perform with the Tafelmusik and Aradia ensembles from Toronto, at the Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival, and in Quebec with the Montreal Baroque Orchestra; Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal; the Arion, Les Boréades, and La Chamaille ensembles; as well as Masques, with which he produced a recording of Bach concertos for harpsichord on the Analekta label.

Jean-Louis Blouin plays a Giuseppe Pedrazzini viola, Milan ca 1930, and uses a Louis Gillet viola bow, ca 1965, generously provided by CANIMEX INC. of Drummondville (Quebec).

Annie Morrier entered Conservatoire de musique de Chicoutimi at age 5. In 1996, she moved to Quebec City to study under François Paradis. During her studies, she played with Orchestre Réseau des Conservatoires, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra, performing in Europe, the U.S., and across Canada. She honed her craft at the Domaine Forget summer academy, studying under renowned teachers such as Gérard Caussé and Bruno Giuranna. In 2001, she performed as a soloist with Orchestre des jeunes du Conservatoire and Orchestre symphonique de Québec. That same year, she graduated from the Conservatory with high distinction.

Annie Morrier has been a member of Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Quatuor Cartier, and contemporary music ensemble Erreur de Type 27. In addition to classical and contemporary music, Annie also performs traditional and Latin American music. Since 2005, she has been a permanent member of the Les Violons du Roy chamber orchestra. In 2015, she joined three other Quebec City area musicians and channeled her lifelong passion for chamber music into the group Quatuor Crema.

Principal cello of Les Violons du Roy, Benoît Loiselle also performs as a soloist and chamber musician. He appears regularly at various music festivals and events in Canada, and has played as a guest soloist with many orchestras, including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Les Violons du Roy, the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal and most recently, the Orchestre de la Francophonie canadienne.

In great demand as a collaborator for both concerts and recordings, he has played alongside musicians such as James Ehnes, Anton Kuerti, Olivier Thouin, Stéphane Lemelin, Anne Robert and Luc Beauséjour. In 2002-2003, he took part in the Tournées Desjardins series of Jeunesses Musicales of Canada, performing concerts throughout Eastern Canada with pianist François Zeitouni. Alongside his concert schedule, he teaches cello at the Académie du Domaine Forget.

As a founding member of Trio Hochelaga, Benoît Loiselle performed with the group from 2000 to 2006 in all major canadian venues and on an Asian tour in the fall of 2004. The Trio Hochelaga was the dedicatee of the Triple Concerto by Canadian composer Jacques Hétu, and gave its first performance in 2003.

Benoît Loiselle graduated from the Montréal conservatory as a student of Denis Brott, and went on to study with Antonio Lysy at McGill University. In 1999, he won the Prix d’Europe award offered by L’Académie de Musique du Québec and used it to study in Switzerland with Radu Aldulescu and Alberto Lysy, at the International Menuhin Music Academy and with Camerata Lysy Gstaad.

From 2003 to 2006, Benoît Loiselle played on the McConnell-Gagliano cello loaned by the Instrument Bank of the Canada Arts Council. He currently plays on a beautiful Lamy bow, generously loaned by Canimex.

Mélisande McNabney performs keyboard music of all periods, on harpsichord, piano and fortepiano. In August 2015, she received the third prize at the International Competition Musica Antiqua in Bruges. She is a graduate of the Amsterdam Conservatory where she studied harpsichord, continuo and fortepiano in the classes of Bob van Asperen and Richard Egarr. She was granted her Doctorate degree at McGill University in May 2017, under the guidance of Hank Knox and Tom Beghin, thanks to the support of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program.

Mélisande McNabney is regularly invited to play with ensembles such as Les Violons du Roy, Arion Orchestre Baroque, Les Idées heureuses, Theater of Early Music and Ensemble Caprice. She is a member of Pallade Musica and Les Songes, with whom she took part in numerous tours of Canada and the USA. Mélisande McNabney has received scholarships from Canada Council for the Arts, Banff Centre, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and Fonds de recherche société et culture du Québec.