Biography
Originally from Kangiqsualujjuaq in Nunavik, Lydia Etok remained close to her nation by being daily involved in the Makivik Society, which allows her to dedicate her time to developing cultural sensitivity and fostering understanding between people from the north and people from the south, with an approach based on skills development.
In the field of creation, she actively participates in numerous projects which allow her to both share and marie her traditions and her culture, through throat singing and traditional tales.
Curious by nature, she also gained experience in making traditional and contemporary attire inspired her cultural heritage. She wishes to instill in this multimedia and interactive project her sensitivity, her values, her experience and her commitment to exchanges between different cultures.
In collaboration with the Indigenous organizations Feux Sacrés and Avataq, she also participates in the validation of all stages of creation to ensure that her nation is well represented. She has been collaborating with Oktoecho since 2009.
Biography
Nina Segalowitz is an Inuvialuit /Chipweyan from Fort Smith, NWT. She is a proud mother of three. A 60s Scoop Survivor, Nina graduated from Concordia University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Human Sciences, a DEP in accounting and a DEP in Social Work.
She has dedicated her entire career to working with the Indigenous community, especially with victims of violence, and is currently a cultural consultant for the Canadian Armed Forces, the Montreal Police Force as well as many universities and schools. As well she sits on the Board of Directors for the Legacy of Hope Foundation.
Nina is a multi-talented artist. An accomplished Inuit throat singer, hand drummer and cellist, Nina has performed, for the past 25 years, all over the world including recently an impromptu performance with musician Bobby McFerrin. She has been part of the Oktoecho group since 2010, using music and various workshops to demystify Inuit culture.
Biography
Described as a ‘Bühnentier (stage animal)’ (Musik Theater) with ‘a voluptuous timbre and virtuoso colorature’ (Diapason), Julie Fuchs is one of the most exciting singers of her generation. She is a laureate of three Victoires de la Musique, Operalia competition and she is Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
Her recent engagements include the role of Marie in La Fille du Régiment at the Scala di Milano and the Paris Opera, Susanna in Les Noces de Figaro at the Munich Opera, Juliette in Roméo et Juliette at the Zurich Opera, Partenope at the San Francisco Opera or even Cleopatra at the Liceu in Barcelona.
It will soon be heard at the famous concert Christmas in Vienna at the Wiener Konzerthaus as well as at the Philharmonie de Paris with the Orchestre de Paris and in A German Requiem with the Orchestre de la Suisse romande.
She will also participate in the revival of L’Opera Seria at the Theater an der Wien, and in the creation of Ercole amante at the Opéra National de Paris.
She will be on tour in Paris, Avignon, Orléans, Toronto… with an original program of chamber music around Satie.
Exclusive artist at Sony, his recent albums include Amadè (2022) as well as his previous discs Yes! and Mademoiselle (Deutsche Grammophon). His new recording I want you, dedicated to Erik Satie and his contemporaries has just been released in November 2025.
Originally from Avignon, Julie trained at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Paris. Activist committed to the future and accessibility of opera, she founded the initiative Opera is Open. She is the artistic director of Nos Jours Heureux, a festival that celebrates both classical music and the traditions of Argentine tango, singing and dancing, openness and transmission.
Biography
Canadian conductor Nicolas Ellis is the Music Director of the Orchestre National de Bretagne and the Principal Guest Conductor of Les Violons du Roy. He is also the Artistic Director of the Orchestre de l’Agora, which he founded in Montreal in 2013.
With the Orchestre National de Bretagne, Nicolas presents a wide range of works to discover, starting with those by Iranian composer Golfam Khayam. He brings the orchestra into the great classical repertoire with pieces such as Beethoven’s Eroica and Stravinsky’s The Firebird, and invites distinguished collaborators such as pianist Alexandre Tharaud and the Babineau-Chartrand duo, with whom he developed a project around traditional Québécois music. He also seeks to go beyond the conventional classical concert format by collaborating with the Théâtre National de Bretagne, where he will present all of the incidental music from Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, alongside young actors from the TNB in a staging by Arthur Nauzyciel.
This season, he brings together the Orchestre de l’Agora and Les Violons du Roy on the same stage for the first time, accompanying soprano Sarah Dufresne, who will perform Mozart arias written for the Weber sisters, for whom Mozart had great affection. The Orchestre de l’Agora’s commitment to the Montreal community continues with a monthly concert series at Bordeaux prison, as well as a major concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the FACE School, in collaboration with young musicians from the school’s music program.
Nicolas is increasingly sought after as a guest conductor by many orchestras across Europe and North America. In the 2025–2026 season, he will make his debut with the Swedish Chamber Orchestra and the Norwegian Radio Orchestra. He will conduct Shostakovich’s First Symphony with the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, as well as works by Johanna Müller-Hermann and Sofia Goubaïdoulina with the Orchestre de l’Opéra national de Nancy-Lorraine. He will also lead Poulenc’s Les Animaux modèles with the Polish Radio Orchestra, and Handel’s Messiah with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. He will return to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, where he will conduct a symphony by Justin Williams, who is also the orchestra’s Assistant Principal Viola.
In Canada, he will conduct Trois femmes de légendes by Mélanie Bonis with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, and Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony with the Victoria Symphony.
In his free time, Nicolas enjoys running and keeps a close eye on the latest results of Stade Rennais in Ligue 1.
Nicolas Ellis is the recipient of the Fernand Lindsay Career Grant (2017) and was awarded the Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer (2021).
The 2026 edition of the Gala de la Terre is a co-production of the Orchestre de l’Agora and the Festival de Lanaudière.
This year, $5 per concert ticket will be donated to the Nature Conservancy of Canada’s project Le Saint-Laurent, which is dedicated to preserving and restoring lands along the Saint-Laurent River.
