Luri Lee, violin

Emily Kruspe violin

Hezekiah Leung, viola

Jonathan Lo, cello

ROLSTON STRING QUARTET

The 2018 recipient and first international ensemble chosen for the prestigious Cleveland Quartet Award from Chamber Music America, Canada’s Rolston String Quartet continue to receive acclamation and recognition for their musical excellence. In 2016, a monumental year, they earn First Prize win at the 12th Banff International String Quartet Competition (BISQC). In that same year, the quartet’s winning included Astral’s National Auditions and Grand Prize of the 31st Chamber Music Yellow Springs Competition. They were also prizewinners at the 2016 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition and the inaugural M-Prize competition. There is no wonder they were named among CBC Radio’s “30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30” in 2016.

On the heels of their Banff win, Rolston String Quartet immediately embarked upon the BISQC Winner’s Tour, taking them to Germany, Italy, Austria, Canada, and United States. As Ludwig van Toronto states, “they performed with a maturity and cohesion rivaling the best string quartets in the world.” In the 2017-18 season, they tip the 100-concert milestone with performances throughout Canada, United States, Germany, Brussels, Italy, and Israel. Highlights included the Smithsonian, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Koerner Hall, and the Esterhazy Palace. The 2018-19 season highlights include debut performances at Carnegie Hall, Freer Gallery, Wigmore Hall, Chamber Music Houston, two major tours in Canada under the Prairie Debut and Debut Atlantic touring networks, and three European tours with dates in Leipzig, Berlin, Lucerne, Heidelberg, Barcelona, Graz, and other centres.

Rolston String Quartet began their two-year term as the Yale School of Music’s fellowship quartet-in-residence in the fall of 2017. They have also served as the graduate quartet-in-residence at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music and have participated in residencies and fellowships at the Académie musicale de Villecroze, Aspen Music Festival, Banff Centre, McGill International String Quartet Academy, Norfolk Chamber Music Festival, Robert Mann String Quartet Institute, St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar, and the Yehudi Menuhin Chamber Music Festival.

Notable collaborations include performances with renowned artists Andrés Díaz, Gilbert Kalish, Mark Morris, Arthur Rowe, Robert McDonald, Donald Palma, Jon Kimura Parker, and Miguel da Silva. Additionally, they have worked with songwriter Kishi Bashi and composers John Luther Adams and Brian Current. Primary mentors include the Brentano Quartet, James Dunham, Norman Fischer, and Kenneth Goldsmith, and the quartet has received additional guidance from the St. Lawrence String Quartet, Barry Shiffman, Miguel da Silva, and Alastair Tait.

The Rolston String Quartet – Luri Lee (violin), Hezekiah Leung (viola), Jonathan Lo (cello), and new member as of spring 2018 Emily Kruspe (violin) – was formed in the summer of 2013 at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity’s Chamber Music Residency. They take their name from Canadian violinist Thomas Rolston, founder and long-time director of the Music and Sound Programs at the Banff Centre.

Luri Lee plays a Carlo Tononi violin, generously on loan from Shauna Rolston Shaw. Rolston String Quartet is endorsed by Jargar Strings of Denmark.

– VISIT THE ROLSTON STRING QUARTET’S EDUCATION & ENGAGEMENT PAGE, and MORE PERFORMANCE VIDEOS – 

Rolston String Quartet Bio en français ici

Stéphane Tétreault, cello

Marie-Ève Scarfone, piano

Stéphane Tétreault, cello

Cellist Stéphane Tétreault first made international headlines as the recipient of Bernard Greenhouse’s cello, the 1707 “Countess of Stainlein, Ex-Paganini” Stradivarius, on generous loan by Mrs. Jacqueline Desmarais.

In addition to innumerous awards and honours, Stéphane was selected as laureate of the 2015-2016 Classe d’Excellence de violoncelle Gautier Capuçon from the Fondation Louis Vuitton, and received the 2015 Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Career Development Award. He was the very first recipient of the $50,000 Fernand-Lindsay Career Award as well as the Choquette-Symcox Award laureate in 2013. First Prize winner at the 2007 Montreal Symphony Orchestra Standard Life-OSM Competition, he was named “Révélation” Radio-Canada 2011-2012 in classical music, was chosen as Personality of the Week in La Presse newspaper in 2012. He also received the Opus Award for New Artist of the Year in 2013. For three straight years, Stéphane was ranked amongst “CBC Radio’s 30 Hot Canadian classical musicians under 30”.

Stéphane was also invited to participate in many prestigious competitions, namely the 2008 Geneva International Cello Competition, the 2009 Rostropovich Cello Competition, and the 2011 Tchaikovsky International Competition. He has performed on two occasions with violinist and conductor Maxim Vengerov as well as with pianist Alexandre Tharaud and has participated in a number of master classes — notably with cellists Gautier Capuçon, Frans Helmerson and Truls Mørk. Chosen as the first ever Soloist-in-Residence of the Orchestre Métropolitain, he performed alongside Yannick Nézet-Séguin during the 2014-2015 season. In 2016, Stéphane made his concert debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Nézet-Séguin and also performed at the prestigious Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland. In 2017, he will be part of the first ever Orchestre Métropolitain European Tour performing the Elgar Cello Concerto at the Kölner Philharmonie in Germany and the Paris Philharmonie as well as the famous Concertgebouw in Amsterdam.

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 given Gramophone magazine’s “Critics’ Choice 2016” as one of the best albums of the year. Both releases were nominated as the “Best Classical Album of the Year” at the 2013 and 2016 ADISQ Gala.

Stéphane has garnered great praise from the world’s leading music critics: “Tétreault’s disc charmed me from the off; this is just pure, lyrical, unadulterated playing of the highest order, with a maturity that belies his 22 years… I can’t wait to hear more from him.” (Charlotte Gardner, Gramophone) “His vibrato and tone are varied, his bowing techniques immaculate and his awareness of harmony and consequent shading omnipresent.” (Joanne Talbot, The Strad).

Currently 23 years old, 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.

Marie-Ève Scarfone, piano

A graduate from the Manhattan School of Music and the Université de Montréal, Marie-Ève ​​Scarfone has a distinguished career as a pianist both in Canada and abroad. She has performed across North America as well as in Europe, Asia and the Middle East. As a recitalist and chamber musician, she has been the guest of many festivals including Centro Històrico (Mexico), Printemps musical de Silly (Belgium), Flâneries musicales de Reims (France), Louvre Thursday Concerts (Paris), The Song Continues (Carnegie Hall, New York), Debut Atlantic, the Domaine Forget International Festival, the Orford Festival, the MSO’s Virée Classique, the Lanaudière International Festival and the Montreal Vocal Art Society, to name a few.

Recently appointed Head Coach at the Opéra de Montréal’s Atelier Lyrique, Marie-Ève ​​Scarfone has a great love for vocal art. She has been musical director of various opera productions, including at the Wexford Festival Opera (Ireland) and the Opéra de Québec. Ms. Scarfone also works as a vocal coach at McGill University, as a repetiteur at the Opéra de Montréal and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra as well as an official pianist at the Montreal International Musical Competition.

Winner of the Marilyn Horne Foundation Song Competition Piano Award and the Sir Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation Award, she has received several awards from the Opéra de Montréal during her training at the Atelier Lyrique. Her recordings with various artists have been acclaimed by international critics and have been selected for many awards.

-VISIT TÉTREAULT & SCARFONE’S EDUCATION & ENGAGEMENT PAGE and MORE PERFORMANCE VIDEOS –

Nicole Ge Li, erhu

Corey Hamm, piano

Erhu and piano virtuosos Nicole Ge Li and Corey Hamm began PEP (Piano and Erhu Project) to explore the fascinating blend of these two iconic Eastern and Western instruments. The blend is not only a tonal and musical one, but also cultural. PEP is delighted to see composers deal with these elements in such different ways.
PEP (Piano and Erhu Project) has commissioned over fifty composers to write works since it began just three years ago. These include such composers as Dai Fujikura, Si Ang Chen, Roydon Tse, Brian Cherney, Keith Hamel, Dorothy Chang, Chan Ka Nin, Alice Ping Yee Ho, Hope Lee, Jordan Nobles, Jocelyn Morlock, Scott Godin, Remy Siu, Edward Top, Aaron Gervais, Jared Miller (and dozens more).

Nicole Ge Li, erhu

Currently Concert Master of the B.C. Chinese Orchestra and gaohu soloist with the BC Chinese Music Ensemble.

Nicole Ge Li began learning the erhu at the early age of six and started training professionally at the age of 11 at the Wu Conservatory of Music Affiliated Secondary School, where she received a full scholarship for four consecutive years. Li was later admitted to the prestigious Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she earned her Bachelor of Music degree in erhu performance in 2008.

An active erhu performer, both as a solo artist and as a member of an ensemble, since 2000, Li is a much sought after performing artist in Vancouver. In 2011, she organized and performed in her own erhu recital in Vancouver, which was also the first full-scale erhu performance event of its kind held in Canada. In 2013, she was invited to perform for Prime Minister Stephen Harper as the only Chinese instrumental soloist at the Chinese New Year Gala in Vancouver. Later that year, Li performed the celebrated erhu concerto “Butterfly Lovers” with the BC Chinese Orchestra. During the 2013/14 season, Li collaborated with virtuoso pianist Corey Hamm in bringing the first of many world premieres of new works for erhu and piano by Chinese and Canadian composers. These performances are being supported by a Canadian Art Council grant as part of a cross-cultural music exchange project.

As a performing artist, Li is known for her interpretive expressiveness, stylistic versatility and ability to transverse a wide range of musical genres from the East to the West, from the traditional to the avant garde. As a teacher, Li is known for her ability to inspire students to excel, as evidenced by all her students’ successful exam results. Li works out of her JW Musical Studio, in Richmond, BC where she teaches, rehearses and records her growing erhu repertoire.

Corey Hamm, piano

Corey performs widely as both a soloist and as a chamber musician. He has commissioned, premiered and recorded over two hundred works from composers all over the world. Many of these commissions have been for various chamber music formations.

His most extensive collection of commissioned works includes over 45 pieces for Piano and Erhu. This Piano Erhu Project is familiarly known as PEP. The composers for the project come from China, Japan, Canada and the United States. The result is a new and flourishing catalogue of works for the piano and the erhu composed in the musical languages of the 21st century. This combination of instruments bringing together two of the world’s great musical traditions, now has a unique collection of works for Ms. Nicole Ge Li and Mr. Corey Hamm as well as other musicians, to draw from for audiences of the 21st century. They have released some of these works on their PEP CDs, Vols. 1 and 2 (Redshift TK437 and 440).

He has also commissioned works for the Nu:BC piano trio and for the Hammerhead Consort (two piano and two percussion). As pianist for The Nu:BC Collective he has released the CD, Beyond Shadows (Redshift TK432), which has also met with critical acclaim.

In recent years, Corey Hamm has studied, recorded and toured one of the great piano works of the last decades, Frederic Rzewski’s monumental, hour-long solo piano epic, The People ‘United Will Never Be Defeated!’ (Redshift TK431). This work, made up of of theme and 36 variations, was composed for the great pianist Ursula Oppens. It has been recorded by a small number of pianists including Marc-André Hamelin. Frederick Rzewski has received Corey Hamm’s interpretation as one of the finest to date. This release on Red Shift records won Spotify’s, Best Classical Recording 2014, Best Classical Recording at the Western Canadian Music Awards, and high praise from Rzewski himself – “Excellent! Bravo! This may be the best recording.”

Corey Hamm has toured extensively, particularly in North America and in Asia.

Mr. Hamm is Associate Prof. of Piano at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, where he was awarded the prestigious Killam Teaching Award. He is on the Piano Faculty of the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance Practice (SICPP) at NEC in Boston. His beloved teachers include Lydia Artymiw, Marek Jablonski, Stéphane Lemelin, Ernesto Lejano, and Thelma Johannes O’Neill.

PEP Bio en français içi 

– VISIT PEP DUO’S EDUCATION & ENGAGEMENT PAGE –

Samantha Louis-Jean, soprano

Vincent Lauzer, recorder

Camille Paquette-Roy, baroque cello

*Mélisande McNabney, harpsichord

*Mélisande McNabney is replaced by Luc Beausejour for the Debut Atlantic tour.

Les Songes

Ensemble Les Songes consists of soprano Samantha Louis­‐Jean, recorder player Vincent Lauzer, baroque cellist Camille Paquette­‐Roy and harpsichordist Mélisande McNabney. These four dynamic young performers were brought together by friendship and their common passion for the baroque repertoire. In 2015 and 2016, Les Songes were on the road across Canada performing their program Alma Innamorata, with two tours presented by the Jeunesses Musicales Canada.

With this program, they were nominated at the Prix Opus in the Concert of the Year – medieval, Renaissance, baroque music category. Les Songes have performed in the Clavecin en Concert and La Dauphine concert series, at the Bourgie Hall and the Chapelle historique du Bon­‐Pasteur, as well as the International Baroque Music Festival in Lamèque. Their concert Agitata was recorded and broadcast by CBC ICI Musique.

Samantha Louis-Jean, soprano

The Canadian and French soprano Samantha Louis‐Jean received her vocal training at the Maîtrise de Radio-­France, the University of Montreal, then with Marie Daveluy and Yolande Parent. She made her professional debut singing Euridice (Monteverdi, L’Orfeo)
with the Montreal Baroque Festical and Lauretta (Puccini, Gianni Schicchi) with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra.

Since then, she has performed with the Portland Trinity Consort, the Orford Festival, the Ensemble Caprice, the Lamèque International Baroque Festival, Clavecin en Concert, the Ensemble Masques, Les Violons du Roy and the Quebec Opera Festival.

In 2015-2016, Samantha was selected for the Handel Residency at the Festival Internation d’Aix-en-Provence conducted by Emmanuelle Haïm. She then performed at the Montpellier Opera, the Festival des Lumières de Sorèze and the Nuits Musicales d’Uzès with Ensemble les Ombres; and sang the role of Elvira (Rossini, L’Italiana in Algeri) at the Tourcoing Lyric Atelier and the Champs­‐Élysées Theatre, conducted by Jean-Claude Malgoire.

In 2016-2017, she will perform at the Comédie de St-­Étienne, the Aix-­en-­Provence Festival, the Tourcoing Lyric Atelier and the Champs-­Élysées Theatre.

Samantha Louis­‐Jean is a winner of the Froville International Baroque Competition, the Prix d’Europe Competition, the Lyndon-­Woodside Oratorio Society of New York Competition and the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation. She is a grant recipient of the Conseildes Arts et des Lettres du Québec, the Canada Council of the Arts and the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada.

Vincent Lauzer, Recorder

Révélation Radio­‐Canada 2013-­‐2014 and Breakthrough Artist of the Year at the 2012 Opus Awards, recorder player Vincent Lauzer is the artistic director of the Lamèque Internation Baroque Festival in New Brunswick. Winner of several prizes in nation and international competitions, he has recently been awarded the Fernand Lindsay Career Award, a scholarship given to a young promising Canadian musician for the development of an international career.

A versatile performer, he plays with Flûte Alors!, Les Songes, the Pacific Baroque Orchestra, Les Violons du Roy, La Bande Montréal Baroque, Les Idées Heureuses, Arion Baroque Orchestra and La Cigale. Vincent has also performed for various series and festivals in Canada and the United States, as well as in Mexico, France, Germany, Spain and Belgium.

Mélisande McNabney, harpsichord

Mélisande McNabney performs keyboard music of all periods, on harpsichord, piano and fortepiano.In August 2015, she recieved the third prize at the International Competition Musica Antiqua in Bruges, Belgium. A Graduate of McGill University and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Mélisande was granted her Master’s degree from the Amsterdam Conservatory in June 2010, where she studied harpsichord, continuo and fortepiano in the classes of Bob van Asperen and Richard Egarr. She is now pursuing her Doctorate degree at McGill University under the guidance of Hank Knox and Tom Beghin, thanks to the support of the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program.

Currently based in Montréal, Mélisande is regularly invited to play with ensembles such as Les Violons du Roy, Arion Orchestre Baroque, Les Idées Heureuses, the Theatre of Early Music and Ensembles Caprice. She is also a member of Pallade Musica and ensemble Les Songes, which will be on tour with Jeunesses Musicales Canada in the 2015-2016 and 2016-2017 seasons.

Mélisande has received scholarships from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Banff Centre, the FQRSC and the CALQ.  She is replaced on this tour by Luc Beausejour.

Camille Paquette-Roy, baroque cello

Having shown an interest and talent for music at a very early age, cellist Camille Paquette-Roy was admitted to the Music Conservatory of Trois‐Rivières in 1999, where she studied under Jean-Christophe Guelpa for ten years. In 2009, she graduated from the conservatory of Trois­‐Rivières with a Diplôme d’Études Supérieures. In the same year, she began her Master’s degree at McGill University under Brian Manker, which she completed in 2011.

A versatile artist, Paquette-Roy works frequently with a variety of ensembles, including Les Songes, l’Orchestre Baroque Avion, Caprice Ensemble and Quatuor esca. In addition to her activities in the Classical and baroque realms, Paquette-Roy is an active performer in Montréal’s pop music scene with artists such as Ingrid St-Pierre, Jean Leloup and Half Moon Run.

Luc Beausejour, harpsichord

Luc Beauséjour leads a very active concertizing career. He has performed as soloist in North and South America as well as in Europe. He was named “2003 Performer of the Year” by the Conseil Québécois de la Musique and has won Félix awards for two different recordings at the Gala de l’ADISQ. His love of Bach’s music has led him to perform the Cantor’s works for harpsichord and for organ almost in their entirety.

Beauséjour has carried out over 35 recording projects, either as soloist or as musical director. Since 1994, he has been the artistic director of Clavecin en Concert. He teaches at Le Conservatoire de Montréal and at the l’Université de Montréal where he also completed a Doctorate degree. He is pleased to be appearing with Les Songes on their Debut Atlantic tour.

-VISIT LES SONGES’ EDUCATION & ENGAGEMENT PAGE – 

Steve Cowan, guitar

Adam Cicchillitti, guitar

For more videos of the duo as well as media and interviews, visit their Education & Engagement page HERE!

Guitarists Adam Cicchillitti and Steve Cowan form a dynamic ensemble that focuses on expanding the guitar repertoire through collaborations with living composers. Currently completing doctorates at McGill University with acclaimed guitarist Jérôme Ducharme, Cicchillitti (Dmus., 2022) and Cowan (Dmus., 2019) present daring programs featuring new music from prominent Canadian composers as well as their own arrangements of impressionist works from 20th-century France and Spain. Having recently collaborated on an album of Spanish guitar music under the Analekta label, these two long-time friends and award-winning guitarists will tour the Canadian East with Debut Atlantic in 2018. Their next album, featuring exclusively Canadian works by multiple generations of celebrated Canadian composers, will be released with Analekta in the fall of 2019.

STEVE COWAN

Canadian guitarist Steve Cowan has performed and taught extensively throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe. His critically acclaimed debut album, Pour guitare, features exclusively Canadian music and has helped to establish him as “one of Canada’s top contemporary classical guitarists” (Classical Guitar Magazine). He has commissioned several new works for guitar and given world premieres in major cities such as Paris, Toronto, and New York.   Steve has won awards at 9 major national and international performance competitions, 7 of which are first prizes. He holds degrees from Memorial University, the Manhattan School of Music, and is currently pursuing Doctoral studies at McGill University in Montréal.

ADAM CICCHILLITTI

There were several media accolades in 2017 for Montreal-born guitarist Adam Cicchillitti. The renowned American magazine Classical Guitar called him “a superb Canadian guitarist” and CBC Music included him on its list of Canada’s top thirty most promising young musicians in classical music, describing him as an “ardent ambassador for classical guitar.” His debut album Canciones, which was financed by the Canada Council for the Arts and MusicAction, was released in early 2018 under the Analekta label.  Cicchillitti is an active performer, composer, teacher and arranger. His compositions and arrangements are published by renowned editor les Productions d’Oz. In 2016, he toured Eastern Canada with Jeunesses Musicales and baritone Philippe Courchesne-Leboeuf.  Adam is the founder of the guitar program at Ottawa Suzuki Strings and is a specialist in child pedagogy.

Bio français de Adam Cicchillitti içi

Bio bilingue de Cowan-Cicchillitti içi

Bio bilingue de Steve Cowan içi