Julien Girard, tenor

Denis Gagné, organist

Join us for this concert featuring the Montreal and Paris repertoire: Jean LeBuis, Amédée Tremblay, Jules Massenet, Théodore Dubois et Léon Boëllmann!

BIOGRAPHIES

Julien Girard
Originally from France, Julien Girard first studied piano, then singing. At 17, his passion for the organ led him to train at the Conservatoire de Bordeaux, where he obtained a master’s degree in musicology. He studied at La Sorbonne and entered the national education system. Subsequently, while teaching at a secondary school in Paris, he sang in two vocal ensembles in the French capital. Also an organist, he has performed concerts in France, England, Germany, Canada, and the United States. He settled in Quebec in 2017 and refined his singing with Geneviève Lévesque and Noëlla Huet, then John Mac Master and Dominique Côté. He is a chorister in various ensembles, including the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, and the Opéra de Montréal. As a soloist, Julien Girard has worked with several conductors, notably Louis Lavigueur for the 2018 presentation of L’Escaouette by R. Maton during a concert of the Ensemble vocal Polymnie at the Ste-Famille Church in Boucherville. That same year, he participated with the Harmonie vocale de St-Hyacinthe, under the direction of Dany Wiseman, in a Handel/Mozart concert at the St-Hyacinthe Cathedral, and in 2019, in the famous Carmina Burana by Orff. In 2020, with the Société chorale de Saint-Lambert, under the direction of Xavier Brossard-Ménard, he was the soloist for a Britten/Weill concert at the Co-Cathedral of Longueuil. In 2023 and 2024, he took on the role of tenor in G. Puccini’s Messa di Gloria in Montreal with the Ensemble Continuo, directed by Sylvain Cooke, at the Maison Symphonique with the Chœur Classique de Montréal directed by Louis Lavigueur, as well as with the Chœur de Laval, under Dany Wiseman’s direction. The duo with organist Denis Gagné has already performed in France in March 2024, at the Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap in Trois-Rivières on June 9, and is invited on October 4 to Saint-Michel-de-Bellechasse.

Denis Gagné
Recognized for the musicality of his playing, his sought-after registrations, and the originality of his programs, Denis Gagné is one of the most active organists of his generation in Quebec. He received his training from organists Jean LeBuis, Yves-G. Préfontaine, and Hélène Panneton, and further specialized in French baroque repertoire with conductor Hervé Niquet. During his studies, he received a scholarship from the McAbbie Foundation for excellence in his academic results in organ at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. He has also been a recipient of the Conseil des Arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ). As a concert artist, Denis Gagné is regularly invited by many concert societies, which has allowed him to perform on significant instruments in Quebec, Ontario, and New Brunswick. He has also been heard in France in Angers, Lille, Lyon, Narbonne, and Paris—at Cathédrale Notre-Dame, St-Gervais, St-Jean-Bosco, St-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet, and St-Eustache—as well as in Luxembourg. A sought-after accompanist, Denis Gagné has collaborated with renowned choirs, such as Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, Les Petits Chanteurs de Laval, the Maîtrise des Petits Chanteurs de Québec, Le Chœur Saint-Laurent, the Grand Chœur de Montréal, and the Chœur and Orchestre symphonique de Laval. At the Opéra de Montréal, he played the organ part in Charles Gounod’s opera Faust with the Orchestre Métropolitain under the direction of Emmanuel Plasson. Highly involved in liturgical music, he held the position of organist and music director at the Sanctuaire du Saint-Sacrement in Montreal for 12 years. He is currently the principal organist at the Saint-Vincent-de-Paul parish in Laval and co-principal at the Italian parish Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel in Montreal. From 2005 to 2011, he was a board member of the Amis de l’orgue de Montréal, where he successively held the positions of advisor and vice-president; he has been treasurer since 2020. For several years, he has been dedicated to promoting Canadian music abroad. Recently, he has been heard in concert at the Palais Montcalm in Quebec in a trumpet and organ program alongside trumpeters Trent Sanheim (OSQ) and Richard Stoelzel (McGill), as well as in the “Sunday afternoon Kilgen organ recital” series at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York. He is the second Quebecer to have performed there since the creation of the concert series.

PROGRAM

Details

• The size of the church allows social distancing
• No tickets required

 

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