Stéphane Tétreault | Photo: Frederik Robitaille
Yuli’s legacy: STÉPHANE TÉTREAULT and BRYAN CHENG
April 25
7:30 p.m.
Stéphane Tétreault,
Bryan Cheng,
Annie Guénette,
Amélie Benoît-Bastien,
Christian Prévost,
Our fortieth-anniversary season will conclude with a one-of-a-kind concert celebrating the legacy of Yuli Turovsky, I Musici founder, cellist, and conductor. I Musici musicians will be featured, of course, along with cellists Stéphane Tétreault and Bryan Cheng—both of whom studied with Turovsky. In addition, the concert will feature a premiere by French-Canadian composer Denis Gougeon, a long-time I Musici associate and friend, and the conclusion of our complete Bach violin concerto series featuring three I Musici members as soloists. Arranged for a solo string quartet and string orchestra by Jean-François Rivest, Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony will bring the anniversary celebrations to a majestic close.
– Jean-François Rivest
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Program
Gougeon
Coups d’archet for Solo Cello and Strings
Duration: approx. 10 minutes
Bach
Concerto for Three Violins in D Major, BWV 1064R
Duration: approx. 17 minutes
Gougeon
Premiere : Concerto for Two Cellos and Strings
Duration: approx. 15 minutes
Beethoven
Symphony No. 6, “Pastoral,” Op. 68 (arr. Jean-François Rivest)
Duration: approx. 42 minutes
Stéphane Tétreault | Photo: Frederik Robitaille
Stéphane Tétreault
Cello
Biography
In addition to innumerous awards and honours, Stéphane Tétreault is the recipient of the prestigious 2019 Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts. He is also the laureate of the 2022 Prix Opus for “Performer of the Year”, awarded by the Conseil québécois de la musique and accompanied by a Canada Council grant.
In 2016, Stéphane made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Nézet-Séguin and performed at the prestigious Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland. During the 2017-2018 season, he took part in the Orchestre Métropolitain’s first European tour with Maestro Nézet-Séguin and made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Stéphane has performed with violinist and conductor Maxim Vengerov and pianists Alexandre Tharaud, Jan Lisiecki, Louis Lortie, Roger Vignoles, Marc-André Hamelin and John Lenehan. He has participated in a number of masterclasses, notably with cellists Gautier Capuçon and Frans Helmerson.
His debut CD recorded with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and conductor Fabien Gabel was chosen as “Editor’s Choice” in the March 2013 issue of Gramophone Magazine. His second album with pianist Marie-Ève Scarfone, featuring works from Haydn, Schubert, and Brahms, was chosen as Gramophone Magazine’s “Critic’s Choice 2016” and recognized as one of the best albums of the year.
Stéphane was a student of the late cellist and conductor Yuli Turovsky for more than 10 years. He holds a master’s degree in Music Performance from the University of Montreal.
Stéphane plays the 1707 “Countess of Stainlein, Ex-Paganini” Stradivarius cello, generously loaned to him by Mrs. Sophie Desmarais.
Bryan Cheng | Photo: Andrej Grilc
Bryan Cheng
Cello
Biography
Following recent prize-winning successes at some of the world’s most prestigious international competitions, including Queen Elisabeth, Concours de Genève, and Paulo, Canadian-born, Berlin-based cellist Bryan Cheng has established himself as one of the most compelling young artists on the classical music scene. He made his sold-out Carnegie Hall recital debut at age 14, his Elbphilharmonie debut aged 20 with the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie Bremen (Joshua Weilerstein), and in 2022 was the first cellist to be awarded the coveted Prix Yves Paternot in recognition of the Verbier Festival Academy’s most promising and accomplished musician.
In the 2022-23 season, Bryan makes his ›Debüt im Deutschlandfunk Kultur‹ with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin (Alpesh Chauhan) at the Berliner Philharmonie playing Saint-Saëns No. 2, returns to the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal (Laurence Equilbey) with Beethoven Triple and National Arts Centre Orchestra Ottawa (Yan Pascal Tortelier) with Saint-Saëns No. 1, and appears with the National Taiwan Symphony Orchestra (Christian Arming) playing Haydn No. 1, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (Daniel Raiskin) playing Korngold and Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations, Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke (Jean-Michel Malouf) playing Elgar, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra (Marc David) playing Saint-Saëns No. 2, and Wiener Stadtorchester.
Previous solo highlights include appearances with the Brussels Philharmonic at BOZAR, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande at Victoria Hall, Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, Antwerp Symphony Orchestra, Sinfonia Lahti, Orchestre Royal de Chambre de Wallonie, Tapiola Sinfonietta, Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Springfield (MO) Symphony Orchestra, Südwestdeutsches Kammerorchester Pforzheim, and Schleswig-Holsteinisches Sinfonieorchester, as well as a coast-to-coast Canadian tour with the National Youth Orchestra as winner of the Canada Council for the Arts’ Michael Measures Prize. Bryan has collaborated with such esteemed conductors as Giordano Bellincampi, Jonathan Darlington, Stéphane Denève, Jacques Lacombe, Susanna Mälkki, Peter Oundjian, Matthias Pintscher, and Dalia Stasevska.
As member of the Cheng² Duo, CelloFellos, and as chamber musician, Bryan performs extensively across the globe. He has had the privilege of working with partners such as Angela Hewitt, Christian Tetzlaff, Lars Vogt, and Antje Weithaas. Recital and festival highlights this season include debuts at Munich’s Gasteig, Berliner Philharmonie’s Kammermusiksaal, and Orford Musique, re-invitations to the Großer Saal of the Elbphilharmonie, Brussels’ Flagey, Halifax’s Cecilia Concert Series and Port Hope’s Friends of Music, recital tours throughout South Africa, the Pacific Northwest (California, Idaho, Montana, Washington), and Vancouver Island, as well as appearances at Switzerland’s Verbier Festival, Germany’s Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Poland’s Krzyżowa Festival, and Québec’s OSM Virée classique, in recital with violinist Andrew Wan.
He has released a trilogy of albums on German label audite—Russian Legends (2019), Violonchelo del fuego (2018), and Violoncelle français (2016)—which has been critically-acclaimed by The Times (UK), Süddeutsche Zeitung, ORF Radio (Austria), WCRB Classical Radio Boston, and BBC Radio Scotland, among others.
Bryan plays the “Dubois” Antonio Stradivarius cello, Cremona, 1699 graciously provided to him by Canimex Inc. from Drummondville (Québec). He is a recipient of the Deutschlandstipendium and has been supported by the Sylva Gelber Music Foundation with generous multiyear scholarships.
Annie Guénette
Annie Guénette
Violin
Biography
Annie Guénette has been active in the Canadian and international music scene, having performed as both a chamber musician and as an orchestral player in notable collaborations with the Violons du Roy, the Molinari quartet, the National Arts Centre, Montreal Symphony Orchestra; the Aurora Ensemble, Britten Sinfonia and Royal Philharmonic in London; the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Scottish Ensemble in Edinburgh. She is a recent addition to the I Musici ensemble, and she has been a member of the Verbier Chamber Orchestra since 2004, which led her to Carnegie Hall and Concertgebouw with Maxim Vengerov.
Ms. Guénette is a past winner of several bursaries, including the Alcan and Amis de l’art; in the 2008 Prix d’Europe competition she distinguished herself by winning the “special prize”, as well as the “prize for best interpretation of a Canadian work”. She has studied at the Universties of Montreal, Michigan and McGill, with jean-François Rivest, Yehonatan Berick and Denise Lupien. Annie Guénette plays a Joseph Gagliano 1768 violin generously loaned by Canimex.
Amélie Benoît-Bastien
Amélie Benoît-Bastien
Violin
Biography
Amélie Benoit Bastien holds a PhD in Interpretation from the Université de Montréal under the direction of Mr. Claude Richard. Her musical development led her to play for renowned violinists such as Pinchas Zukerman, David Cerone, Paul Kantor, Pierre Amoyal, Mark Fewer and Andrew Dawes. Winner of a prestigious scholarship from the Faculty of Graduate Studies of Université Montréal from 2005 to 2008, she won several awards and scholarships, including those of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, the Festival de musique du Royaume, the CBC Young Artists competition and the Canadian Music Competition. A very versatile musician, she was called upon to perform several different roles, both as guest violin at the Gatineau Symphony Orchestra during the 2016-2016 season-2017, as a chamber musician in the Allegra concert series since 2015 and as a studio musician where she participated in multiple recordings. In 2016-2017, she participated in Céline Dion’s Quebec and European tour. An accomplished violinist, she is also dedicated to teaching the violin, which she considers an invaluable source of discoveries and challenges. Always very enthusiastic to share her passion and strong of several good years of teaching in the network of the Conservatoires de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec, she currently holds a professorship at Lionel Groulx College.
Christian Prévost
Christian Prévost
Violin
Biography
Violinist Christian Prévost is a graduate of the Institute of Chamber Music run by the Fine Arts Quartet at the University of Milwaukee. A member of I Musici de Montréal since 1985, he studied chiefly with Steven Staryk, David Zafer, Leonard Sorkin and Vladimir Landsman. A musician recognized for his rich and vibrant sonority, he has dedicated himself to a wide variety of artistic projects and collaborations both in studio and on stage. As well as record solo violin soundtracks for a number of Quebec-made films such as Un homme et son péché, Sans elle and Père et fils, he has been invited to perform as concertmaster with the symphony orchestras of Laval, Trois-Rivières and Longueuil, as well as with the Montreal Chamber Orchestra and the Gabriel Thibaudeau ensemble. He also forms a duo with his wife, pianist and singer-songwriter Lucie Dubé.
Denis Gougeon | Photo: Florence Mennessier
Denis Gougeon
Composer
Biography
With more than a hundred works ranging from solo to orchestra, concertos, a Musical Tale with Gilles Vigneault, two symphonic ballets, in Munich and in Oslo, he is unquestionably one of the most active composers in Canada. Here are some sponsors and interpreters of his works: I MUSICI de Montréal, the OM, the OSM, the SMCQ, the NEM, the soprano Marie-Danielle Parent, the OSQ, the Quatuor Molinari, the Quatuor Erato from Basel, the Percussions de Strasbourg, the CNA orchestra, ESPRIT Orchestra de Toronto, Les Violons du Roy. In the theater he collaborated with the director Denis Marleau for the music of 12 shows of the UBU Theater. Recent awards and accolades include: 2019 Prix Robert Charlebois-Rayonnement international awarded by la Société professionnelle des auteurs compositeurs du Québec. 2017 Prix Opus de la Création de l’Année pour ADAGIO et ARIOSO commissionned by par I MUSICI From 2001 to 2019 Denis Gougeon was full professor of composition at the Faculty of Music of the University of Montreal.
