under the direction of Thomas Le Duc-Moreau
November 14 at Bourgie Hall at 2:30 pm
On the program: Concerto for Harpsichord by J. S. Bach and symphonies for strings by W. F. Bach and C. P. E. Bach. Although Bach was not an avant-garde musician in his time, he nevertheless created the new genre of the keyboard concerto, which was to have a brilliant future. Among his four sons, who fully honored the illustrious name, the two eldest composers, Wilhelm Friedemann and Carl Philipp Emanuel, belonged to the generation of the new sensibility, which, by its audacity and expressive force, heralded Romanticism.
This concert is given by musicians of the rising generation: Steve Bergeron, harpsichordist and 3rd prize winner of the 2021 Jurow International Harpsichord Competition and the Ensemble Volte conducted by Thomas Le Duc-Moreau, assistant to Kent Nagano at the OSM from 2019 to 2021.
Steve Bergeron has always had a passion for dance music and improvisation and began his musical studies in jazz piano. After a university career in jazz, he decided to develop his passion for early music and the harpsichord, which he studied with Luc Beauséjour at the Université de Montréal, where he obtained a master’s degree and a Diploma of Advanced Professional Studies. He is now studying with Béatrice Martin and Olivier Baumont in Paris. Steve Bergeron has performed in recitals and as an accompanist on numerous occasions. He has provided basso continuo for several opera productions, including Marc-Antoine Charpentier’s Actéon in 2017, Henry Purcell’s The Fairy Queen in 2018, Jean-Philippe Rameau’s Les Indes galantes in 2019 and John Blow’s Venus and Adonis in 2021. He has also collaborated on various projects with Denis Brott, Clavecin en concert, the Ensemble Volte, the Orchestre de l’Université de Montréal and the Cobalt Quartet.
Formed by the new generation of Quebec musicians, Ensemble Volte’s mission is to offer Montreal audiences an original and daring alternative to traditional classical music concerts, through collaboration with artists from all walks of life. Ensemble Volte was born as the Beethoven Chamber Orchestra (BCO) through a collaboration with the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. At the initiative of its artistic director, Thomas Le Duc-Moreau, the ensemble produced three concerts in the Conservatoire’s 2017-2018 “Mettre en scène” series, productions that allowed the musicians to build relationships and the organizers to create a unique and innovative concert concept. The success of the OCB led the group to continue the experiment by fostering a collaborative approach. As a result, Ensemble Volte was formed in the spring of 2018. Volte presented three concerts in its first 2018-2019 season: Spectre d’un héros, La mise en scène and Les galanteries sauvages. While the first two married music and theater – with an original theatrical creation for the second – the last one connected Rameau’s music with contemporary dance. On this occasion, the ensemble commissioned the young Quebec composer Louis-Michel Tougas for the first time. Last August, Ensemble Volte began its second season with the concert Volte présente Schumann, offering an evening of Quebec poetry surrounding works by Robert Schumann. The season continued with two more concerts, in February and June 2020.
Thomas Le Duc-Moreau began his tenure as assistant conductor of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra in 2019 under Kent Nagano, in addition to working with conductors such as Valeri Guerguiev and François-Xavier Roth. Since the beginning of his tenure as assistant conductor of the OSM, Mr. Le Duc-Moreau has had the opportunity to lead the orchestra in three season concerts. Previously, he assisted Fabien Gabel at the Orchestre symphonique de Québec in 2018 and 2019 as well as Jacques Lacombe at the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, from 2016 to 2018. Known for his enthusiasm and eclecticism, Mr. Le Duc-Moreau was invited by the Bonn Opera and its conductor Jacques Lacombe in the fall of 2017 to lead three weeks of rehearsals for a new production of Bizet’s Carmen. In the summer of 2019, he led rehearsals for the Opéra de Québec’s production of Wagner’s Phantom Ship, with François Girard as director. In September 2018, he was invited to conduct the National Orchestra of the National Theatre of Prague in the prestigious Dvořák Hall of the Rudolfinum, as part of the Young Prague Festival. Thomas Le Duc-Moreau has held a bachelor’s degree in cello performance since 2016 and, since 2018, a Master’s degree in conducting from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, where he studied with Carole Sirois and Jacques Lacombe respectively.
Location: Bourgie Hall of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Ticket prices: Regular: $37, Senior: $34, Student: $30
