Simon Rivard is a highly sought-after conductor in Canada’s music scene, known for his excellence in leading both orchestra and opera. Recent highlights include his debut at the Edmonton Opera for Puccini’s La Bohème, and subsequent return for their production of Puccini’s Tosca, as well as Handel’s Messiah with both the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Orchestre Classique de Montréal.

Rivard has held several podium positions including Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, the RBC Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and the Resident Conductor of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra. In 2023, Simon was appointed Edmonton Opera’s first Music Director, beginning his tenure in their 23/24 season. He has conducted orchestras across North America and Europe, including the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra, and the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra. His 22/23 season included debuts with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, and engagements with the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke.

An accomplished choral conductor, he has worked with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir as Associate Conductor and Artistic Collaborator, leading them in Against the Grain’s Juno Award-nominated Messiah/Complex. He was also the Musical Director of the TBSO Symphony Chorus and Assistant Conductor of the Choir of St. Andrew and St. Paul and the Ottawa Choral Society.

Named in 2017 one of the CBC’s “30 hot Canadian classical musicians under 30,” Simon has been an Equilibrium Young Artist and an invited participant for the first Conducting Mentorship Program at the Verbier Festival Academy (Switzerland). Born in Montréal, Rivard studied violin performance with Anne Robert and orchestral conducting with Raffi Armenian at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. He completed an MMus in Orchestral Conducting at McGill University under Alexis Hauser and Guillaume Bourgogne.