Artists | Leaf Music

Christine Walevska

<div id="WRchTxt1g" class="txtNew" data-reactid=".0.$SITE_ROOT.$desktop_siteRoot.$PAGES_CONTAINER.1.1.$SITE_PAGES.$c1enr_DESKTOP.1.$WRchTxt1g"> Christine Walevska has been center stage in the cello world ever since her first international concert appearances at the age of eighteen. Those early triumphs inspired the sort of accolades normally reserved for star performers of mature years. Typical of the tributes was the comment by the Los Angeles music critic Patterson Greene: “She parallels on the cello the singular persuasiveness of Fritz Kreisler on the violin.” The first to spot her remarkable talent was her father, a dealer in rare violins and cellos. He not only became her first teacher, he set her on the path, at the early age of thirteen, to studying with the celebrated Gregor Piatigorsky. </div> <div id="FvGrdLn7" class="style-ipvuz80u" data-reactid=".0.$SITE_ROOT.$desktop_siteRoot.$PAGES_CONTAINER.1.1.$SITE_PAGES.$c1enr_DESKTOP.1.$FvGrdLn7"> That was only the beginning. When she was sixteen she won a French government scholarship to study with the great Maurice Marechal at the Paris Conservatoire. Two years later she became the first American ever to win first prize there in both chamber and cello music.</div> <div id="comp-ipvu057a" class="txtNew" data-reactid=".0.$SITE_ROOT.$desktop_siteRoot.$PAGES_CONTAINER.1.1.$SITE_PAGES.$c1enr_DESKTOP.1.$comp-ipvu057a"> Her rise was meteoric, beginning her career in Germany where in her second season she played 45 concerts in that country alone. Following a series of International triumphs, including heralded appearances at Buenos Aires’ famed Theatro Colon, where she performed a Recital, the Brahms double concerto with Henryk Szeryng and the Dvorak cello concerto in the same week to rave notices, there soon followed a round of appearances that sounded like a roll-call of the great European cities. Over four decades of concertizing across the globe she has played with orchestras throughout Germany, the United States, France, in every corner of Spain, Poland, Mexico, Central and South America,(where she has brought music to every big city or small, wherever there is a concert hall with an orchestra or piano to accompany her) in Holland with the Rotterdam Philharmonic, the Hague, in the Concertgebouw, the Stockholm Philharmonic, the Israel Philharmonic, Vienna, Italy, Prague, Cuba, the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Dresdener Philharmonic, concerts in Japan, Honk Kong, China and Taiwan. In 2015 the Museum of Chimei in Taiwan, with a generous grant, sponsored her latest recording recorded in Montreal. This CD may be purchased through this website. The five CD boxed set titled ” The Walevska’s Legendary Recordings” which now exist on the Decca label, has all seventeen cello concertos, which were originally produced by Phillips. This set can also be purchased through this website. Her playing was greatly admired by Jascha Heifetz and Arthur Grumiaux. Arthur Rubinstein said of her. “… Christine Walevska has the most sensuous tone I have ever heard on the cello… She is the only cellist, who takes my breath away…” Claudio Arrau, yet another from the ranks of great pianists, said: “… Christine Walevska is the world’s greatest cellist..” Many composers have dedicated works to her, including Aram Kachaturian, Ferde Grofe (title: “Christine”), Jose Bragato and Ennio Bolognini, who wanted her to be the only cellist to continue to play his compositions. The violinist, Josef Suk, Dvorak’s great grandson, wrote to her and stated that her interpretation of Dvorak’s cello concerto was the greatest he had ever heard. He invented her to play it at the Prague Spring Festival and she has played since with the Suk Chamber Orchestra in the concerts: “Jewels of the Prague Castle.” The recording she made with the London Philharmonic of the Dvorak concerto was celebrated in a book by Prof. Fabio Uccelli: El Commiato de Anton Dvorak, (Dvorak’s Farewell), published in Florence. Entirely devoted to analyzing this work in depth. The book analyzes phrase by phrase her interpretation with that of Rostropovitch. Because of this book, during the Dvorak anniversary year, 2004. She had a wave of invitations to play the concerto everywhere from Beijing to Brazil. She played to the concerto three times with the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino. The book is dedicated to Christine Walevska as: “the world’s greatest interpreter of Dvorak’s cello concerto.” </div> [grid_plus name="Christine Walevska"]

Danor Quinteros

Danor Quinteros has has given recitals throughout his native Chile as well as in Germany, France, Canada, Italy and Spain and won prizes around the world. He studied at Zürich School of Arts (Prof. Homero Francesch) and at Hochschule für Musik Köln (Prof. Jacob Leuschner). He also participated in numerous Masterclasses around the world with Jaques Rouvier, Jun Kanno, Robert Mcdonald, and Andrea Lucchesini. He has won prizes at the Ile de France International Competition, Chilean national piano competitions and the International Claudio Arrau Competition. Albums: [grid_plus name="Danor Quinteros"]

Ensemble La Cigale

The cicada develops slowly, secretly, over a period of years before presenting itself in style with a song which everyone can hear and appreciate. In the well-known fable, the ants belittled the cicada for doing nothing but share its music. Perhaps they forgot how the cicada’s song lightened their labour and allowed them to dream, to rejoice, to love and also to weep… Formed in 2006 in Montréal, the early music ensemble La Cigale takes its name from this most musical insect and hopes in turn to share its music with anyone who would like to listen. La Cigale specializes in music of the Renaissance and Baroque eras on period instruments. The group creates programmes that juxtapose formal and traditional styles, explore the links between literature and music, and bring to light little known masterpieces. The musicians of La Cigale have been praised for the warmth of their performances and for the complicity they share with each other and their audiences. In 2013, the ensemble released a first CD, Tiorba Obbligata, with an unusual programme of early Italian works featuring the theorbo as an obbligato instrument. Several pieces on the CD were world premiere recordings and La Cigale is one of the rare groups to make this repertoire their own. Tiorba Obbligata was nominated in Québec for a “Prix Opus” in the category of Disc of the Year—medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and Classical music. The ensemble is often featured in concert series and festivals and pursues a wide variety of musical activities. Ensemble La Cigale has been featured at the Montreal Baroque Festival, at an exhibition opening at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, and for festivities at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. In their quest to share their musical passion, the group has performed outdoors on Rigaud Mountain (International Walking Day), in a gallery of modern art and in a Montréal beauty salon. Musicians from the group have also had the pleasure of introducing music lovers to Baroque music (La Grande Bibliothèque du Québec, in a concert-conference) and have performed for conferences of the Cercle interuniversitaire d’étude sur la République des Lettres (CIERL, Université Laval) devoted to interdisciplinary research bringing together literature, iconography and music. In 2014, the ensemble produced a series of three programmes of music traversing the ages from Spanish Baroque chaconnes to songs by the Rolling Stones. [grid_plus name="Ensemble La Cigale"]

Gayle h. Martin

Gayle h Martin is University Organist and teaches organ performance, aural skills, choral conducting, introduction to conducting, and music history. She also directs the Elliott Chorale and Choral Society, and coaches the early music group Opella Nova. Martin's passion for music, animals and nature began in the countryside where she grew up, the beautiful Green Mountain State of Vermont. She holds the following degrees: B.Mus. (Crane School of Music, SUNY, Potsdam), M.Mus. (McGill University) and D.Mus. (University of Alberta). Further studies followed with a three-year stay in France, where Martin was organist at the American Cathedral in Paris and lived in the cathedral tower. She received a premier prix à unanimité from the Conservatoire de Rueil Malmaison, studying under the tutelage of renowned organists Jean Langlais and Susan Landale. Martin has recorded six CD's. First, Celtic Impressions, recorded on the organ at the Mount Allison University Chapel, features a commissioned work by Edmonton composer Jacobus Kloppers, based on Scottish jigs, airs, strathspeys and marches. Air Races, a collaborative CD with piper Ian MacKinnon, was nominated for an East Coast Music Award and contains various Celtic tunes arranged by Martin. Prism, Martin's first solo CD, was recorded on the restored organ at Trinity-St. Stephen's in Amherst Nova Scotia, and features music from the French symphonic era and music by Petr Eben. She has just finished recording her fourth solo CD to be released in January 2015. Gayle h. Martin has accompanied various choral groups including the University of Alberta Madrigal Singers, the Université de Moncton choir, Chorale Beausejour, Choeur Louisbourg, Camerata Singers of Halifax, and Cantabile Singers of Truro. In addition, Martin has taken part as organist/accompanist for several other recording projects such as Songs of the Stable: Christmas Music from Canada, with the Camerata Singers. Martin also serves regularly as an adjudicator for festivals and competitions. She plays continuo for Sacabuche; most recently they concertized with the Houston Chamber Choir. Other performances with Sacabuche have taken them to Macau, Hong Kong, British Colombia and Minnesota. [grid_plus name="Gayle h. Martin"]

Halifax Camerata Singers

The Halifax Camerata Singers is Atlantic Canada’s premier chamber choir. Founded in 1986 by Artistic Director Jeff Joudrey, the Nova Scotia ensemble has distinguished itself by performing exciting choral repertoire that covers all periods and styles, with special attention to Canadian music. The auditioned choir is known for its high performance standards, claiming national recognition and the Healy Willan Grand Prize in the 2010 National Competition for Canadian Amateur Choirs. Members of the Halifax Camerata Singers come from many communities for the opportunity to perform demanding choral repertoire. The choir often appears in collaboration with chamber ensembles, Symphony Nova Scotia, other musicians, and since 2001 has been the core choir of the Symphony Nova Scotia Chorus. The ensemble performs in regional concert series such as Music at the Three Churches, Musique Royale, Music at Trinity, Dartmouth Community Concert Series, and Indian River Festival, P.E.I. The Halifax Camerata Singers organization has an active program of commissioning choral music from Canadian and international composers and is proud to encourage young singers through its Youth Mentoring Program, bursaries for the Nova Scotia Youth Choir, and a Young Composer’s Competition. The organization was also instrumental in the success of Xara, a choral theatre ensemble for young women aged 18–30 years, which was founded as a youth initiative of the Halifax Camerata Singers in 2008. The Halifax Camerata Singers is a not-for-profit society managed by a volunteer board of directors. Funding comes from performances, donations, and fundraising, with supporting grants from the Canada Council for the Arts; Nova Scotia Communities, Culture and Heritage; and the Lloyd Carr-Harris Foundation. The Halifax Camerata singers will record their fifth full-length album with Leaf Music in 2015. [grid_plus name="Halifax Camerata Singers"]

Infusion Baroque

Winner of the Grand Prize and Audience Prize at the 2014 Early Music America Baroque Performance Competition, Montreal-based ensemble Infusion Baroque seeks to draw a new audience to early music by integrating chamber music performance with other artistic media. Their performances have been described as “dynamic and alive” with a stage presence that is “poised and elegant.” Infusion Baroque’s innovative programming includes Who Killed Leclair (an interactive murder mystery soirée based on the unsolved murder of the famous composer), Music in Colour (featuring live painting inspired by the music of Telemann) and Rebels and Rivalries (music and scandalous stories from the lives of great composers). Infusion Baroque has performed extensively across Eastern Canada and the United States, including appearances at the Montreal Baroque Festival, San Francisco Early Music Society, Houston Early Music Festival, Indianapolis Early Music Festival, Early Music Now (Milwaukee), Renaissance & Baroque (Pittsburgh) and Early Music Guild (Seattle). Gagnant de la compétition Early Music America Baroque Performance 2014 (Grand Prix et Prix du Public), l’ensemble montréalais Infusion Baroque cherche à attirer un nouveau public vers la musique ancienne en intégrant la musique de chambre avec d’autres médias artistiques. Leurs performances ont été décrites comme «dynamiques et vivantes» avec une présence de scène qui est «balancée et élégante». La programmation novatrice d’Infusion Baroque comprend Qui a tué Leclair? (une soirée meurtre et mystère interactive autour de l’assassinat non-résolu du compositeur), Musique en couleur(mettant en vedette la peinture en direct inspirée par la musique de Telemann), et Rebelles et Rivaux(basé sur des anecdotes scandaleuses de la vie de grands compositeurs). Infusion Baroque a joué dans l’est du Canada et des États-Unis, dont des performances au Festival Montréal Baroque, San Francisco Early Music Society, Houston Early Music Festival, Indianapolis Early Music Festival, Early Music Now (Milwaukee), Renaissance and Baroque (Pittsburgh) et Early Music Guild (Seattle). [grid_plus name="Infusion Baroque"]

Julien LeBlanc

Canadian pianist, Julien LeBlanc, dazzles with virtuosity and appealing enthusiasm. He is recognized for his great musical sensitivity and his ability to communicate the essence of the music. Based in Montreal, he is active on the Canadian musical scene equally as soloist, chamber music pianist and accompanist. Recently, he was critically acclaimed for his musical direction of Debussy’s Pelléas et Mélisande, presented by the “Against the Grain Theatre” in Toronto, and for his masterly interpretation of the work at the piano. He released his first solo piano recording, Mélancolies, in 2015. “Guest music director Julien LeBlanc contributes fine piano accompaniment, playing with splendid feeling and authenticity, translucent, almost weightless in placid moments, orchestrally evocative in stormy, unbridled scenes. Pelléas et Mélisande’s five distinct mini-symphonic interludes are grippingly rendered. LeBlanc, a specialist in French repertoire is an artist of sweeping dimensions. Debussy, a pianist of no small accomplishment himself, would unquestionably agree.” (Opera Going Toronto) In 2002, Julien LeBlanc was awarded the Emerging Artist of the Yearprize by the Arts Foundation of New Brunswick. Following his debut at the National Arts Centre (Ottawa) in 2003, he undertook a series of concerts including touring Canada with violinist Marc Djokic for Debut Atlantic and Jeunesses Musicales. His concerts are broadcasted regularly on Espace Musique and CBC. He has received numerous grants from the Canada Council and the Province of New Brunswick. In recent years, Julien appeared at numerous festivals, in particular at theAcadémie Musicale de Villecroze (France) as well as in the series Été Musical de l’Église historique de Barachois (NB) where, since 2012, he acts as co-Artistic Director. Other New Brunswick festivals include theFestival de Musique de Chambre de la Baie-des-Chaleurs, theFestival Acadien de Caraquet and the NB Summer Music Festival in Fredericton. Music lovers also had the pleasure to hear him at theFestival de musique de chambre de Lachine (QC), at Festivoix (Trois-Rivières), the Indian River Festival (PEI), Three Churches Festival at Mahone Bay (NS), as well as the Elora Festival (Ontario) and Music and Beyond (Ottawa). Julien is a founding member of the Trio Arkaède with violinist, Isabelle Fournier and flutist Karin Aurell, dating from 2006. The broadcast of their first concert on CBC was so well received that it was released as a CD in 2008. In June of 2014, the Trio released a second CD, entitled “Tour de France”, dedicated to works by lesser-known French composers. Critics have responded to this Trio’s playing by “full of beauty and serenity, evoking perfectly and with style the ambiance of a concert performed in a French salon”. (Scena Musicale) Julien is particularly involved with the human voice, and collaborates with several Canadian singers such as soprano, Nathalie Paulin, with whom he has given several recitals of French songs and lieder, and with baritone, Peter McGillivray. He has appeared frequently with McGillivray in a whimsical program of opera arias and melodies entitled “Rogues, Rascals and Rapscallions”. In the autumn of 2014, Julien was touring the Maritime Provinces with soprano Miriam Khalil and mezzo soprano Lauren Segal, under the auspices of Debut Atlantic. Julien has given master classes at several universities including Prince Edward Island, UNB in Fredericton, Dalhousie in Halifax, Memorial in St. John’s and the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. He has adjudicated at music festivals in Sackville (NB), the NB Competitive Festival in Saint John (NB), the Halifax Kiwanis Festival, the Greater Moncton Music Festival and at the provincial final competitions in both New Brunswick and Newfoundland. From 2005 to 2009 he was Artist in Residence at UNB in Fredericton; has taught at the Université de Moncton and was vocal coach at the Glenn Gould School in Toronto and the Université of Montréal. Currently, he is accompanist and vocal coach at McGill University. Among his prizes in music competitions Julien counts First Prize in 2000 at the Concours musical du Cercle des Cent-associés in Montreal,Second Prize in the National Music Festival in Halifax and First Prize in the Ludmilla Knezkova-Hussey International Piano Competition in two successive years, 1994 and 1995. Julien studied at the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Glenn Gould School in Toronto and the Université de Montréal. His principal teachers were Marc Durand, André Laplante, Malcolm Martineau and Paul Stewart. He has participated in several master classes in Europe, Canada and the United States, and was fortunate to have been able to work with Dalton Baldwin, Leon Fleisher, Susan Manoff, John Perry, Craig Rutenberg and Roger Vignoles. Julien’s special interest is the French repertoire, particularly the music of Francis Poulenc. He is equally greatly appreciated for his interpretations of the romantic and modern repertoires. [grid_plus name="Julien LeBlanc"]

Mark Fewer

Described as “genre-bending” by the National Post, and “intrepid” by the Globe and Mail, Mark Fewer has performed around the world to critical acclaim in virtually every role asked of a violinist, from the early baroque to the avant-garde. Fewer has appeared as a soloist around the world, including with the Melbourne Symphony (Australia), the Fodens-Richardson Brass Band (UK), and the Zapp Quartet (Amsterdam). He has been featured on numerous recordings, including Changing Seasons, which won the 2012 Juno Award for Best Contemporary Jazz Album. The violin concerto was written by jazz great Phil Dwyer to feature Fewer’s unique abilities as both a classical violinist and improviser. Mr. Fewer was concertmaster of the Vancouver Symphony (2004-2008), artist director of the Scotia Festival of Music (2004-2009), and is the founding director of the SweetWater Music Festival. He has been on faculty of the Schulich School of Music, McGill University since 2007. [grid_plus name="Mark Fewer"]

Maureen Batt

Noted by Opera Canada as a “young, lovely and captivating soprano,” and by the Halifax Herald as being “enthusiastically at home on stage” and having an “endlessly energetic and animated interpretation,” Maureen Batt is an accomplished concert and opera artist. Maureen’s opera credits include Belinda, Dido and Aeneas (Purcell), Silvia, L’isola disabitata(Haydn), Lauretta, Gianni Schicchi (Puccini), Rosa, Il campanello (Donizetti), Polly, The Threepenny Opera/Die Dreigroschenoper (Weill), Morgana, Alcina (Händel), Nina, Chérubin (Massenet), Susanna, Le nozze di Figaro (Mozart), Eusebia, Die Freunde von Salamanka (Schubert), Jenny, La Dame Blanche (Boieldieu), Papagena, Die Zauberflöte(Mozart), Zerlina, Don Giovanni (Mozart), Annina, La Traviata (Verdi), Despina, Così fan tutte (Mozart), Laetitia, The Old Maid and the Thief (Menotti), Serpina, The Maid Mistress(Pergolesi), Limonia, Ten Belles Without a Ring (Von Suppe), Miss Silverpeal, The Impresario (Mozart). As an actor, she has appeared in Theatre St. Thomas University’s productions of Measure for Measure, Oh, What a Lovely War, and Caucasian Chalk Circle. She filmed a TV pilot for a series called Oznaberg, which premiered in the 2011 Silverwave Film Festival, and has since aired on Rogers Television. Her selected concert and oratorio credits include Handel’s Messiah and Esther, Mozart’s Vesperae solennes de Confessore and Exsultate Jubilate, Bach’s BWV 187 Es wartet alles auf dich, BWV 4 Christ lag in Todes Banden, and BWV 245 St. John Passion. Maureen’s formal training includes a Master of Music from the University of Toronto, a Bachelor of Music from Dalhousie University, and a Bachelor of Arts from St. Thomas University. She is an alumna of the St. Andrews Opera by the Sea workshop, the Halifax Summer Opera Workshop, the Casalmaggiore International Music Festival, and the Daniel Ferro Vocal Program in Italy, and the Centre for Opera Studies in Italy (CO-SI). She is equally at home in opera, oratorio, cabaret, musical theatre, art song, and contemporary music. An avid supporter and promoter of new Canadian music, Maureen has both commissioned and premièred many works by emerging and established composers. She performed in a number of the Toy Piano Composers’ seasons, including the Opera Scenestersproduction; performed in Toronto Operetta Theatre’s TAPTOO! première; participated in a singer-composer collaborative workshop in Halifax called Opera from Scratch; performed in the 2013 Tapestry Songbook New Opera 101 program; and participated in the Contemporary Performance Studies program at the Vancouver International Song Institute, where she performed works by living Canadian composers, and worked with composers Jake Heggie and Jeffrey Ryan. She has created the roles of Helen (Aunt Helen, Pearce), Keri Ferrell (Hipster Grifter, Denburg), Lorelei Henderson (Stockholm Syndrome, Ryan), Bride (Cake, Pearce), Hannah (Hannah & Paige and the Zombie Pirates, Thornborrow), Dorothy Parker (Etiquette, Pearce), Anna (Regina, Denburg), and Cindy (Heather:Cindy + Mindy =BFFS 4EVER, Thornborrow). Maureen is the co-artistic director of Essential Opera. Founded in 2010, <a href="http://www.essentialopera.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Essential Opera</a> is committed to presenting a wide variety of concert opera works, ranging from the Baroque to contemporary. Essential Opera has been invited to perform with organizations around Ontario including Open Ears Festival and New Hamburg Live. Essential Opera opened Season 5 with Gluck’s Paride ed Elena (Amor) in September 2014 in Toronto, and in Kitchener and closed with Essential Zarzuela! including Vives’ Bohemios (Cossette). The company has premièred a triple bill of new Canadian operas and will be remounting Etiquette by Monica Pearce and Regina by Elisha Denburg with Opera Lyra in October 2015. Essential Opera has also been invited by the Gilsig Series to remount Regina in Halifax in October 2015. For more information, please visit the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/essentialopera" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Essential Opera Facebook page</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/EssentialOpera" target="_blank" rel="noopener">YouTube Channel</a>. Maureen has had the distinguished honour of being invited to perform as a guest soloist for Their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Japan during their visit to Ottawa, marking 80 years of diplomatic ties between Canada and Japan. And, with the St. James Choir in Toronto, she sang for Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburg. Among the list of conductors and directors Maureen has worked with are Andrew Ager, Derek Bate, Larry Beckwith, Michael Capon, Laura Caswell, Robert Cooper, Philippe Djokic, Gary Ewer, Richard Hornsby, Steven Jarvi, Walter Kemp, Kevin, Mallon, Peter Merrick, David Passmore, Leigh Rivenbark, Ilkay Silk, Guillermo Silva-Marin, and Vicki St. Pierre. As part of the BlackCreek Music Festival Chorus, Maureen had the honour of singing under the batons of Marvin Hamlisch, Eugene Kohn, and Lorin Maazel. [grid_plus name="Maureen Batt"]

New Brunswick Youth Orchestra

The mission of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra is to inspire excellence among youth through the learning and performance of orchestral music. Albums: [grid_plus name="NBYO"]

Robert DeMaine

Praised by the New York Times as “an artist who makes one hang on every note,” ROBERT deMAINE is the Principal Cellist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. A highly sought-after solo artist and chamber musician, he is a frequent guest artist at many of the world’s premier chamber music festivals, including those of Marlboro, Seattle, Great Lakes, Limoges, Heidelberg Schlossfest, Chamberfest Cleveland, Montréal, Seoul’s Ditto Festival, and most recently featured as a soloist at the 2016 Piatigorsky Cello Festival. His playing is noted for its “beautiful singing tone, lapidary technical precision, and a persuasive identification with the idiom of the music at hand.” As a soloist, he performs the great works of the repertoire both old and new from concertos by Haydn, Dvorak, Elgar and Penderecki, as well as more recent works by John Williams and Christopher Theofanidis. As a recitalist the great works for cello and piano as well as the suites of J.S. Bach remain staples of his repertoire, and as one critic noted, his playing was “magnificent” and that his “technical brilliance is surpassed only by the beauty of tones he produces.” DeMaine has appeared on the stages of Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Teatro Colón, Amsterdam’s Concertgebouw, the Berlin Philharmonie, Vienna Konzerthaus, and Moscow’s Tchaikovsky Hall, Auditorium du Louvre, Suntory Hall and the Seoul Arts Center, as well as the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center and Conservatory and London’s Wigmore Hall, among others. He is the recipient of a career grant from the Helen M. Saunders Foundation, and the gift of a Vuillaume cello from the Cecilia Benner Foundation. His principal teachers include Leonard Rose, Stephen Kates, Steven Doane, Paul Katz, Luis García-Renart and Aldo Parisot. Masterclasses and additional studies were undertaken with Bernard Greenhouse, János Starker, Boris Pergamenschikow, Felix Galimir, and Jerome Lowenthal. DeMaine studied at The Juilliard School, the Eastman School of Music, the University of Southern California, Yale University, and the Kronberg Academy in Germany. A first prize winner in many national and international competitions, deMaine was the first cellist ever to win the grand prize at San Francisco’s prestigious Irving M. Klein International Competition for Strings. As soloist, he has collaborated with many of the world’s most distinguished conductors, including Neeme Järvi, Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, Gustavo Dudamel, Esa-Pekka Salonen, Peter Oundjian, Mark Wigglesworth, Joseph Silverstein, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, and Leonard Slatkin, and has performed nearly all the major cello concertos with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra, where he served as principal cello for over a decade. DeMaine has also served as guest Principal Cellist of the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra, the Toronto Symphony, and the Bergen Philharmonic in Norway. A founding member of the Ehnes Quartet in 2010, he also performs in a piano trio with violinist Hilary Hahn and pianist Natalie Zhu. Robert deMaine has recorded for Naxos, Chandos, Onyx, CBC, DSO, Elysium, and Capstone and has been featured on the BBC, PBS, NPR’s Performance Today, the Canadian Broadcasting Company, France Musique, and RAI, among others. His recording of the John Williams Cello Concerto (Detroit Symphony, Leonard Slatkin conducting) was released by Naxos in fall 2015. Robert deMaine is an exclusive Thomastik-Infeld artist, and performs on a cello made in 1684 by Antonio Stradivari, the “General Kyd, ex-Leo Stern.” [grid_plus name="Robert DeMaine"]

Roger Lord

Canadian pianist Roger Lord from Moncton, New Brunswick won the First Prize in piano in the Canadian National Festival of Music as well as in the Canadian Music Competition. He was also one of the winners of the Radio-Canada/CBC “Debut” competition and performed 120 concerts for Jeunesses Musicales in Canada and in Europe. His various engagements have since taken him to some of the world’s great cities such as Paris, Oslo, Vienna, Parma, Montreal, Melbourne, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Mexico City, Quito, Cairo, Tunis, Riyadh, Kuala Lumpur, Saigon, Seoul, Beijing, Shanghai, Tokyo, etc. He has performed as a soloist with symphony orchestras in North America, South America, Europe and Asia. Hailed as “The Piano Prince of Canada” by the China Daily, some of his performances took place in world renowned venues such as the Great Hall of the People located on Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City Concert Hall in Beijing, the He Luting Auditorium in Shanghai, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Auditorium Niccoló Paganini in Parma, the Cairo Opera House, the Carthage Acropolium in Tunis, the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in Seoul, etc. Critics are enthusiastic and acknowledge “his skillful talent, great subtlety, genuine emotional generosity, as well as his grand technical mastery”. During the 8th International Francophonie Summit in 1999, Mr. Lord was invited to perform a recital for the State Leaders of 52 nations. He also represented Canada as a pianist at the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988 and in various festivals around the world including at the Shanghai International Arts Festival and at the Festival del centro histórico in Mexico City which attracts over one million spectators. In November 2004, he released a critically acclaimed CD of piano music by 19th century Louisiana composer and virtuoso Louis Moreau Gottschalk produced by the SNE label in Montreal. This CD received nominations for an Éloizes Award as well as for an ECMA Award in Canada, and earned the special distinction “Bravo!!!” from Trad Magazine France. In 2008, he received an “Excellence Award” in Music from the New Brunswick Arts Council in Canada. Pianist Roger Lord travelled to China for the first time in 1999 and gave his first concert with symphony orchestra in the city of Qingtao in Shandong Province. He has now been to China close to 30 times and has performed in most regions and important cities. He was invited to the « Gateway to Music » International Festival in Beijing in 2007, 2009 and 2011 as well as to the Shanghai International Arts Festival in 2014 and to the opening ceremony of the 11th Global Confucius Institute Conference in Kunming as a guest of honor in 2016. In early 2013, he was selected as one of the international guest artists for one of the prestigious Chinese New Year TV Galas in Beijing which was broadcast on Chinese television for hundreds of millions of viewers. In the fall of 2013, he became the “First non-Chinese pianist in the world to release a CD of Chinese piano music” with his CD entitled “Chinese Treasures” which was recorded in the central studio of the China National Radio in Beijing with renowned Chinese producer Shen Yuanzhi. The CD is available on the Canadian label Leaf Music and is distributed by Distribution Plages and Naxos Classics. Roger Lord studied in Canada at the Université de Moncton, at McGill University, and at the Université de Montréal, as well as in Paris and Strasbourg, France. He also attended special summer sessions of the Moscow Piano Institute in Russia at the Gnessin Music Academy. He has been invited on juries of prestigious national and international piano competitions in Australia, USA, Malaysia, and Canada. He holds a Doctorate in Music and is now Professor of Piano at the Université de Moncton in Canada. [grid_plus name="Roger Lord"]

Saint John String Quartet

The Saint John String Quartet‘s concertizing schedule of over 125 concerts a year has taken them to Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia. Their most recent CD recording of Jacques Hétu’s String Quartet No. 2 attracted a JUNO nomination in the Classical Composition of the Year category and won “Best Album of the Year” MusicNB while their previous CD won the ECMA “Best Classical Album of the year” award. The group can be often heard on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation radio waves, the Internet and on 4 award-winning compact Discs. Winners of the 2012 Originals Award for ‘Classical Music’, the Quartet was also honoured in 2012 to receive the Lieutenant Governor’s NBYO award. In 1995, the Saint John String Quartet presented the first chamber music concert on the World Wide Web. The Quartet has played for the Prime Minister of Canada, Prince Charles and Queen Elizabeth the Second and at prestigious festivals such as the Tochigi Music Festival in Japan, the Arcady festival in the USA and the Forbidden City Festival in Beijing China. In 2014, the Saint John String Quartet released “Montage” their 5th CD recording. Produced in partnership with Leaf Music Inc. and the Province of New Brunswick, the album features seven previously unrecorded works for string quartet by six important Canadian composers. Albums: [grid_plus name="SJSQ"]

Trio Arkaède

<div id="pageHead"> <div class="projectNav clearfix"> <div class="next ">Founded in 2006, Trio Arkaède unites three friends and exceptional musicians who complement each other musically as well as in personality. Flutist Karin Aurell, violinist Isabelle Fournier and pianist Julien LeBlanc are all active soloists and chamber musicians. With a passion for chamber music, the group offers eclectic programming that brings lesser-known works to the forefront. Few composers beyond the Baroque period have written trios for flute, violin and piano. Their most recent recording is a collection of French music from the first part of the 20th century that includes some rarely heard gems, as well as important sonatas by Debussy and Poulenc. Two of the works pair the flute and piano with the warm sonority of the viola.</div> </div> </div> <div id="content" class="full"> <div class="project clearfix"> Flutist Karin Aurell is a chamber musician who lives in Sackville, New Brunswick. Born in Sweden, Karin had a long career as an orchestral player before moving to Canada in 2001 to pursue her dream of playing chamber music full-time. She is the co-founder of the woodwind quintet Ventus Machina, and she performs new music across North America with new music group Motion Ensemble. Karin teaches flute at Université de Moncton at Mount Allison University. Violinist and violist Isabelle Fournier is principal second violinist of Symphony Nova Scotia in Halifax. She is an active soloist and chamber musician and has made appearances throughout Canada, the United States, Japan, Taiwan and Europe. For many years, Isabelle lived in London, England, where she was a member of the English Chamber Orchestra. Isabelle is originally from Moncton, New Brunswick. Pianist Julien LeBlanc is in high demand throughout Canada as a collaborative pianist, vocal coach and chamber musician. He is acclaimed for his sensitivity and exceptional communications skills. Originally from Cocagne (NB) he currently resides in Montreal. His numerous activities on the Canadian musical scene include co-artistic direction of L’Été Musical, a summer concert series at the Historical Church in Barachois (NB) and adjudicating at numerous music festivals and piano competitions. </div> [grid_plus name="Trio Arkaède"] </div>