Biographies

Ryan Shao, violin

Originally from Montreal, Ryan Shao (2001) began his violin studies with Xu Zhi at the age of 4. His training continued with Ana Drobac at the Pre-conservatory in 2010, and he then began his studies with Anne Robert in 2013 at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Montreal. He has continued his studies with her, currently working towards his master’s degree.

Ryan has participated in numerous master classes, notably with Andrew Wan, Karen Gomyo, Jean-Jacques Kantorow, Tobias Steymans, Sonja van Beek and many other celebrated violinists.

He has also been the recipient of several awards, such as First prize at the Canadian Music Competition in the Strings category (21-years) as well as First prize in the chamber music category (quartet).

Last summer, Ryan participated in workshops at Orford Musique. He also impressed audiences at the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival in Germany, where 120 musicians from around the world come together in Germany to form an orchestra. During his 7-week stay, he performed as concertmaster under the baton of Christoph Eschenbach, Ruth Reinhardt, Stefan Geiger and Michael Sanderling.

For this season, he is concertmaster of the Symphony Orchestra of the Montreal Conservatory of Music.

Justine Lefebvre, cello

Justine is currently studying for a master’s degree with Carole Sirois at the Montreal Conservatory of Music. She made her debut as a soloist at the Maison Symphonique de Montréal in the fall of 2022 with the Conservatory Symphony Orchestra, then was once again called upon to perform solo with the Ensemble Volte in the winter of 2023. She has been a member of the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra since 2022 and the Drummondville Symphony Orchestra since 2023, in addition to being an extra with the Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestra. She has also been honing her orchestral skills in recent months, joining the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Center Orchestra and the Violons du Roy as part of their mentoring programs.

Justine is the recipient of several scholarships from the Fondation de Soutien aux Arts de Laval and was awarded one of the prestigious Monique-Barry scholarships awarded by the Fondation du Conservatoire in Spring 2023. Her career has included taking part in master classes with many renowned cellists such as Stéphane Tétreault, Lluis Claret, Michel Strauss, Marc Coppey, Natasha Brofsky and Brian Manker.

Since the winter of 2022, she has held the position of principal cello with the Montreal Conservatory Symphony Orchestra.

Emmanuel Laforest, piano

Born in St-Sulpice in Lanaudière (2001), Emmanuel Laforest began studying piano at the age of 7 with Thérèse Bernier and then with Paul Surdulescu at the Fernand-Lindsay School of Music in Joliette. He then studied with Jean-Luc Cholette at Cégep Marie-Victorin de Montréal and Marie-Claude Bilodeau at Cégep de Joliette. Since September 2020, pursuing advanced studies, Emmanuel Laforest has studied with Richard Raymond at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Montreal.

Emmanuel has won numerous awards, including Grand Prize at the Canadian Music Competition, the Montreal Conservatory Foundation Prize awarded to the best pianist 25 and under, and First Prize at the Montreal Conservatory concerto competition, Grand Prize at the Capitale (Quebec) music competition (solo and concerto categories), Grand prize at the Classival de Valleyfield competition, Second Grand Prize at the Sherbrooke music competition and Second Grand Prize at the music competition in Sorel.

Emmanuel has participated on several occasions in master classes with Sarah Davis Buechner, Serhiy Salov, Boris Berman, Dang Thai Son, Evelyne Brancart, Suzanne Goyette, Hugues Cloutier, Yoshikazu Nagai, Wei-Lung li, Enrico Elisi and James Giles, Alon Goldstein, Ching-Yun Hu, Michael Lewin, and Douglas Humpherys. He is supported by the Conservatory Foundation and by Jeunesses Musicales Canada’s AIDA funds. Emmanuel participated in the “Preludes at the OM” presented by l’orchestre Métropolitain, at

“The Complete Works of Rachmaninoff” in Sorel-Tracy, and will play several times as a soloist in 2024, notably with the New Brunswick Symphony Orchestra, the

Conservatoire de Montréal Symphony Orchestra, the Nouvelle-Génération Orchestra and the Sinfonia de Lanaudière. Emmanuel’s goal is to develop towards being a complete and well-rounded artist – as a soloist, chamber musician and collaborator, conductor.  Above all, he is dedicated to sharing his love of music with all.

Program

Emmanuel Laforest, piano

Ryan Shao, violin
Justine Lefebvre, cello
Emmanuel Laforest, piano