Chloé Chabanole
Concertmaster
Chloé Chabanole started playing violin at a young age in her hometown of Regina, Saskatchewan. Since moving to Montréal in 2013, Chloé has established a varied musical career. She plays regularly with the Orchestre Métropolitain, I Musici de Montréal, and the Montréal Symphony Orchestra and is a member of chamber groups collectif9 and Warhol Dervish. She also serves as concertmaster of the Orchestre de l’Agora under conductor Nicolas Ellis.Chloé studied at the Conservatory of Amsterdam with Johannes Leertouwer, the Université de Montréal with Laurence Kayaleh and the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal with Marianne Dugal. During these formative years, she took part in numerous international orchestral and chamber music festivals, including the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, the St. Lawrence String Quartet Seminar at Stanford University, the Toronto Summer Music Festival, the Accademia Mahler in Bolzano, Italy, the Colorado College Summer Music Festival, the Rendez-vous musical de Laterrière and the Festival de Lanaudière.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
Julien Patrice
Principal Second Violin
Born in Montreal, Julien Patrice recently completed his university studies in classical violin. He acquired his most recent diplomas at the University de Montréal under the direction of Claude Richard. Julien holds a Master’s Degree in interpretation and a D.E.P.A. and he currently evolves in the music scene throughout Quebec.
In addition to his positions as Assistant second violin of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, section violin at the Sinfonia de Lanaudière, and his position of Principal Second violin at the Orchestre de l’Agora, Julien Patrice performs with several ensembles including I Musici, FILMharmonique de Montréal, Orchestre classique de Montréal, the Laval, Québec and Sherbrooke symphony orchestras, as well as several other small ensembles. He also performs as a soloist with the Orchestre de l’Agora and the Sinfonia de Lanaudière.
Julien Patrice is part of the Magillah music group, allowing him to explore and develop other aspects of his musicality; especially the world of klezmer, music from Eastern Europe and vocal singing. More recently and alternately to his work as a musician, Julien Patrice now holds the position of Orchestra manager within the administrative team of the Orchestre de l’Agora. He is responsible of the recruitment of musicians and internal communications with the musicians of the Orchestra. Always seeking to express his creativity through art, Julien is also devoted to photography in his spare time, he specializes mainly in portraits and artists photos. Finally, being a versatile musician, Julien Patrice works on several projects in a committed way in order to continually develop his musical skills and to evolve personally as an artist.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
Cynthia Blanchon
Viola
French violist Cynthia Blanchon splits her time between Canada and Europe, dedicating herself to various artistic endeavors. As a seasoned orchestral musician, Cynthia currently holds the principal viola position with the Orchestra de l’Agora and has been guest principal with Thirteen Strings Ensemble and the Welsh National Opera. She has also performed with the London Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre Metropolitain, Montreal Symphony, among others, collaborating with distinguished conductors such as Sir Simon Rattle, Yannick Nezet-Seguin, Valery Gergiev, Esa-Pekka Salonen, and Kent Nagano. Her concerts has led her to perform at prestigious venues such as Suntory Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Musikverein, Elbphilharmonie,Philharmonie de Paris…
Cynthia’s love for chamber music blossomed early on, when she performed at the CNSMD in Lyon with Marc Danel and Yovan Markovich from the Ysaÿe quartet. Since then, she has collaborated with a multitude of renowned musicians such as Serhiy Salov, Rainer Küchl, Kevin Lin, and Scott St. John, and has been invited to perform at numerous chamber music festivals such as Music & Beyond, Festival Classica, ProMusica serie, Concerts aux Îles du Bic, Rencontres Musicales de Laterrière, Rencontres Musicales de Haute-Provence, Entre Vents et Marais festival…In 2021, Cynthia recorded the Dvořák piano quintet under the ATMA classique label with the Quatuor de l’Agora and Nicolas Ellis, with whom she embarked on a West Canada tour in March 2023. She is also frequently invited as a guest violist with the Myriade quartet and Quatuor VoxPopuli. Aside from her musical performances, Cynthia is also passionate about pedagogy and has been a viola lecturer at the University of Montreal since 2021. She will be teaching at Music at Port Milford for the second time next summer.
With a doctorate completed with distinction under the guidance of Jutta Puchhammer and Juan-Miguel Hernandez, Cynthia’s musical journey began at the young age of 16 when she enrolled in the CNSMD in Lyon. Subsequent to that, she honed her skills at the Colburn School in Los Angeles. Driven by a passion for learning, Cynthia has had the privilege of working with some of the most renowned violists, including Hartmut Rhode, Gilad Karni, Hariold Schlichtig and Maxim Rysanov, to name a few. Although the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of her participation in the Prussia Cove festival twice, Cynthia had previously performed at the Pacific Music Festival in 2018. A recipient of several national awards such as the Lempdes, Toulouse, and Mouans-Sartoux competitions, Cynthia was also the proud winner of the Mécénat Musical Société Général competition in 2015, which allowed her to play on a Von Baehr viola for three years. Today, Cynthia plays on a Kalata viola crafted in 2016 and a bow made by Arnaud Suard in 2008.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
Thomas Beard
Cello
Originally from Wingham, Ontario, cellist Thomas Beard currently holds the positions of principal cello with the Orchester de l’Agora and assistant principal cello with the Orchester symphonique de Sherbrooke. He is also the coordinator of a series of concert-workshops presented at the Montreal Detention Facility (Bordeaux) and at the University Institute for Mental Health in Montreal. He studied with Paul Pulford at Wilfrid Laurier University before transferring to McGill University where he completed his Bachelor of Music degree with Yegor Dyachkov. He then completed his Masters of Music and Artist Diploma at McGill University, under the continued guidance of Yegor Dyachkov.
Thomas’ orchestral experience includes playing with the l’Orchestre classique de Montréal, Ensemble Classico-Moderne, FILMharmonique, l’Orcheste symphonique de Saguenay Lac-Saint-Jean, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada (2009/ 2010), the Cambridge Symphony Orchestra, and the National Academy Orchestra (2018/2019). He also distinguished himself by winning the Stratford Concerto Competition (2011), the McGill Chamber Music Competition (2014) taking him to Austria to perform, and participating in master classes given by Philippe Mueller, Chris Hoyle and Ralph Kirshbaum, Rachel Mercer, Johannes Moser, and Steven Isserlis.Thomas’ recently performed in the piano quartet for Fever’s production of ‘The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience’ in Montreal. He also recorded for BBC2 with the electro-acoustic artist Tim Hecker for the series ‘The North Water’ and continues to record for several indie/pop bands in Montreal.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
Samuel-San Vachon
Double bass
Native from Saguenay Lac St-Jean, Samuel-San Vachon learned the violin and the cello before he started the double bass at 18 years old. Aged 25, he is currently doing a master degree at Mcgill University in double bass perfmormance with Ali Yazdanfar, principal bass at OSM. This young artist recently got a job at the OSO as assistant principal bass. Also, he is the principal bass of the Orchestre de l’Agora and he frequently subs with theMcgill Chamber Orchestra and l’Orchestre Symphonique de Drummondville.
Recently, Samuel-San played his first concert with the OSM. Furthermore, he was member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada for the past three years, which he received the award of excellence twice.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
Noémie Caron-Marcotte
Flute
Born in Mont-Tremblant, Noémie Caron-Marcotte begins learning the flute at the age of 6 with Claire Marchand at the McGill University Music Conservatory. She stands out during all her childhood by winning several competitions: 1st prize at the Concours des jeunes musiciens des Laurentides and 2nd place in her category at the Canadian Music Competition.
She began her studies in interpretation of the flute at Cégep Saint-Laurent under the direction of Ms. Diane Caplette, then at the Faculty of Music at the Université de Montréal where she completed, under the direction of Mrs. Lise Daoust, her Bachelor’s Degree (2011) and her Master’s Degree (2013), obtaining a mention of excellence for her final recital.
In 2017, Noémie completed a D.E.S.S. in orchestral excerpts at the piccolo under the direction of Ms. Caroline Séguin, Principal piccolo at the Orchestre Métropolitain. This specialization allows her to stand out at international auditions. She was a finalist for the position of Principal Piccolo at Florida Orchestra (May 2017), Nashville Symphony (April 2018) and San Diego Symphony (January 2019).
Noémie is now Principal Flute of the Orchestre de l’Agora, conducted by Nicolas Ellis, and joins in as a freelancer at the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières as well as ensembles within different musical styles, such as Oktopus.
A fine pedagogue and a valued teacher, she is also involved in many educational projects in the greater Montreal area, communicating her passion and her art.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
Pedro Molina
Clarinet
Pedro Molina began playing clarinet at the age of 11, studying first with his father before moving on at the age of 15 to the National Conservatory of Music in Peru. In 2007, he relocated to France to study at the Conservatoire de Bordeaux with Richard Rimbert and in 2013, he obtained his master’s degree from the University of Montréal in the class of André Moisan.
In demand as a chamber musician and soloist, Pedro also has extensive orchestral experience. He has played with the National Symphony Orchestra of Peru, the Orchestre du Conservatoire de Bordeaux, the Orchestre Symphonique de Longueuil, the Orchestre de l’Agora and the Orchestre de l’Estuaire.
In the final year of his master’s degree, Pedro won first prize in the University of Montréal’s Concerto Competition and he was also invited to participate in Denmark’s prestigious Carl Nielsen competition.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
Victor Alibert
Bass clarinet
In 2007, Victor received his classical training from Richard Rimbert and Stéphane Kwiatek at the Bordeaux Conservatory in France. In 2012, he moved to Canada to study with André Moisan at the University of Montreal where he completed his undergraduate degree. During his studies, Victor attended numerous masterclasses and had the chance to meet many great masters of the clarinet, such as Philippe Berrod, Martin Fröst, Jérôme Voisin and Philippe-Olivier Devaux.
Versatile musician, Victor Alibert has always been interested in classical and traditional music. Playing clarinets from the Eb to the bass, Victor actually performs in various styles going from Symphonic concerts with the Orchestre de l’Agora, Eastern European music with the Magillah and the Fanfare Carmagnole, and contemporary chamber music with the Paramirabo Ensemble.
With social projects at heart, Victor frequently collaborates with Les Porteurs de Musique, a social ensemble that hosts events in venues like shelters, hospitals and psychiatric institutes. Victor is also a percussionist in the batucada Movimento. He has been teaching clarinet since 2013 at Collège Notre Dame, and has been invited to teach masterclasses at the Domaine Forget and the Waterloo Region Contemporary Music Session with the Paramirabo Ensemble. In 2013, Victor Alibert was also the winner of the Concerto Competition at the University of Montreal and was awarded the second prize at the Festival du Royaume.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
Gabrièle Dostie-Poirier
Bassoon
Born in Outaouais in 1991, Gabrièle Dostie-Poirier became a member of the Orchestre Métropolitain in November 2014 as a second bassoon player. She is regularly asked to play with Quebec musical formations. Violons du Roy, I Musici, symphonic orchestras like Montreal, Laval, Trois-Rivieres, Drummondville, Sherbrooke, Longueuil, Gatineau regularly ask for her services. This young bassoonist takes part in international tours with Orchestre Métropolitain and Violons du Roy. We can also hear her in recordings with ATMA, SONY Classical, Deutsch Grammophon, National Film Board of Canada and Tele-Quebec (for Genial!’s tv show). She played with the Orchestre symphonique de l’Agora since the first concert in 2013 and is now officially occupying the first bassoon chair.
She studied at Montreal Conservatory with Mathieu Harel and Stéphane Lévesque. Her studies ended with distinctions prices in chamber music and in bassoon. During her musical training, Gabrièle went to different summer academies such as: Pablo Casals’s Festival, Prades (France), Domaine Forget, Orford Arts Centre Academy for orchestra and octet programs, Brooke Valley Bassoon Days, Orchestre Réseau, National Youth Orchestra of Canada. Before playing the bassoon, she studied the violon with Vivaldistes de l’Outaouais between 1995 and 2010.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
Élise Poulin
Oboe
Oboist Élise Poulin is very active on the Québec music scene. In 2019, she joined the celebrated wind quintet Pentaèdre and has since recorded several albums with the group for ATMA-Classique. In addition to being principal oboe of the Orchestre de l’Agora, Élise plays regularly with the Orchestre symphonique de Laval, the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil, the Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-St-Jean, the Orchestre Classique de Montréal, the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ), and the BOP ensemble. She can also be heard playing English horn on the soundtrack to the film « Les P’tits Cochons 2 », (music by Martin Léon). She is regularly invited to perform at festivals such as the Festival du Bic, the Festival Classica, and the Festival de Lanaudière.
Élise has been awarded several scholarships, most notably from the Fondation Pierre Rolland, the Stingray Rising Stars Program, and the Fondation du Père-Lindsay. In collaboration with Orford Music, the Fondation du Père-Lindsay scholarship allowed her to partake in a career development program aimed specifically at young musicians through the HEC-Montréal business school.
Élise began playing oboe at 12 years old at Joseph-François-Perrault high school. She then went on to study with Lise Beauchamp at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and Olivier Doise at the CRR de Boulogne-Billancourt in Paris. She is currently enrolled in the doctoral program at the Université de Montréal under Vincent Boilard and Caroline Traube and she teaches oboe at Pierre Laporte high school and the Coopérative des professeurs de musique.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
Guillaume Roy
Horn
Guillaume starts learning music at age 10 on the piano, and 3 years later on the horn. After studying at the Conservatoire de musique de Rimouski, he then moves to Montreal to study with Denys Derome at McGill University where he completes his Bachelor’s and Master’s Degrees in performance.
In the summer of 2009, he acts as principal horn for the Montreal Youth Orchestra tour in Belgium and Germany. In June of 2013, he is invited to play, as a brass quintet member, for the celebrations of the Normandy Landing’s 74th Anniversary in Courseuilles-sur-Mer, France. He has been a member of the Orchestre symphonique de l’Estuaire from 2001 to 2016, and frequently performs as a freelancer throughout the province of Quebec with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the orchestras of Longueuil, Laval, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières and Saguenay, and many different chamber music ensembles.
Passionate about music in all its forms, he is also an avid arranger and orchestrator, as well as an active teacher in the greater Montreal area.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
David Therrien Brongo
Percussions
Multi-percussionist based in Montreal, David Therrien Brongo has a career as a performer, educator and researcher. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Fourth Prize (Guy Soucie Prize) at the prestigious Concours Prix d’Europe 2021. He is principal percussionist of Ensemble Paramirabo and principal timpanist-percussionist of Orchestre de l’Agora and of Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean as well as co-artistic director of Duo AIRS. David Brongo regularly performs with the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, Sixtrum and the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal (ECM +). Active on the international scene, David has performed in England, Denmark, Spain, Mexico, France and across Canada. Holding degrees from the University of Montreal and the Superior School of Music of Catalonia in Barcelona, he is now pursuing his doctoral studies at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. His researches are funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). David Therrien Brongo is an artist endorser of Dream Cymbals and Gongs.
Photo credit: Nadia Zheng
