Solisten NZO-Zyklus 2017-3

Ensemble PENTAÈDRE


A unique musical ensemble in the Canadian landscape, Pentaèdre explores and presents to the public a diversified and original chamber music repertoire, developed in the tradition of music for winds. Under the artistic direction of Louis-Philippe Marsolais since 2005, the five artists-musicians forming the quintet are recognized for the talent, technique, precision and color they bring to their performances.
Strongly committed to refresh the classical concert concept, Pentaèdre crosses the borders between artistic disciplines and reintegrates performing arts into the concert : musicians become complete artists by performing with dancers, actors, mimes or singers. Their 4 to 7 concerts season may thus include researches, transcriptions, creations, guest ensembles or artists (piano, singers, strings), collaborations or exchanges, works for young audiences as well as staging challenging interdisciplinary projects.
The past ten years have seen Pentaèdre inviting renowned guests artists such as tenors Christoph Prégardien and Rufus Muller, baritones Russell Braun and Phillip Addis, soprano Karina Gauvin and pianists Naida Cole, David Jalbert and Iwan Llewelyn-Jones, while pursuing collaborations with chamber ensembles like Penderecki String Quartet and Molinari Quartet. The ensemble has been heard all over Canada, in the United States, in Europe and in the Middle East.One of their most recent CDs, a chamber version by Normand Forget of Schubert’s Winterreise, was awarded the CD of the Year 2008 Opus Prize – Classical, Romantic, Postromantic, Impressionist Music by the Conseil Québécois de la Musique, and got the exceptional Stern des Monats/Star of the Month from German magazine Fono Forum. These come on top of excellent reviews of Pentaèdre’s innovative shows L’amour est un opéra muet and A Chair in Love, and an Opus Prize for Best Concert of the Year, Present, Contemporary, Electro-Acoustic Music in 2002.
Among recent performances were concerts in Belgium, Germany ad Israël of a chamber version of Schubert’s Winterreise (by Normand Forget) with famous tenor Christoph Prégardien ; the stage version première of John Metcalf’s opera A Chair in Love at Cardiff and Swansea Opera Houses (10 concerts in Wales and Ireland); L’amour est un opéra muet (from Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte) with the mime company Omnibus; Numerous shows for young audiences. The ensemble has recorded 5 CDs and performed more that 25 premières including commissions to canadian composers such as Ana Sokolovic, André Ristic, Michael Oesterle and Denis Dion. Their season concerts are regularly broadcast on Radio-Canada and CBC.

Ariane BRISSON | Flöte

Montreal born flutist Ariane Brisson studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal from 2008 to 2013 with Marie-Andrée Benny, DePaul University under the tutelage of M. Mathieu Dufour (2013-2014), as well as at the Universtié de Montréal with M. Denis Bluteau, where she graduated in spring 2016. Some of her awards include the prestigious Grand Prix d’Europe (2013), as well as the grand prize of the concerto competition of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières (2012). Ms. Brisson is currently an active freelancer throughout the province of Québec, and regularly performs with les Violons du Roy and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Since 2016, Ms. Brisson is a permanent member of the wind quintet Pentaèdre, as well as the Duo Palladium with pianist Olivier Hébert-Bouchard.

Normand FORGET | Oboe


Born in a family where music was always present, Normand Forget played music as a hobby until he finally decided, at 20, to study music at cégep Lionel-Groulx (Ste-Thérèse, QC). Marc Laberge will be his first mentor, followed by Théodore Baskin, at McGill University (Montreal). He then got a scholarship to study at Oberlin College, USA, where he worked under the wise direction of James Caldwell – and won the Artistry in Oboe Performance prize, awarded by his peers. A founding and still active member of Pentaèdre and Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM), he had the opportunity to perform internationally in most important concert halls. As a committed musician, invested by a duty to perform, he writes chamber versions of famous works, vested in this commitment. Among others and Des Knaben Wunderhorn by Gustav Mahler and Winterreise by Franz Schubert, which was awarded the 2008 Opus Prize for best romantic CD of the year, and gathered elogious reviews internationally. His musical career led him to play with all Québec major orchestras. With a passion for education, he has been teaching at McGill University since 1992.

Martin CARPENTIER | Klarinette

Martin Carpentier studied clarinet with Emilio Iacurto at McGill Universituy and graduated with Distinction in interpretation. He then won the position of solo clarinet with the Orchestre des jeunes du Québec. In 1992, he studied with Karl Leister (Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra) and obtained a Masters Degree in Interpretation from Université de Montréal, under the direction of André Moisan. A clarinetist in great demand, Martin Carpentier is a member of Le Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM) and of Pentaèdre. He also performs regularly with Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, Opéra de Montréal, Les Violons du Roy and I Musici de Montréal, and has recorded CDs with Société des vents de Montréal, Pentaèdre and NEM. Martin teaches clarinet at Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM) and Université de Montréal.

Mathieu LUSSIER | Fagott

A versatile musician, Mathieu Lussier is a dynamic bassoonist, championing baroque basson as a solo intrument all over North America and in Europe. He performs as guest soloist and/or conductor with such ensembles as Arion Baroque Orchestra (Montreal) and Les Violons du Roy (Quebec City) and joins regularly the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Toronto), the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra and the Cleveland Baroque Orchestra Apollo’s Fire. In 2007, he became Artistic Director of Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival. Mathieu Lussier is dedicated to chamber music and is a member of Pentaèdre, Caliban Quartet of Bassoonists of Toronto, and Musica Franca. Among his numerous recordings as soloist, are over a dozen of bassoon concertos by Vivaldi, Graupner, Telemann and Corette, a CD of Sonatas for bassoon by Boismortier, CDs of solo bassoon works by François Devienne as well as Bataclan! an album of works for bandoneon, harpsichord and bassoon of South-American inspiration.
In his function as composer, Lussier has a catalogue with more than thirty works to his credit and they are heard regularly in concert halls in North America, Europe and Australia. His most recent commissions are hisDouble Concertofor trumpet, bassoon and string orchestra recorded by Guy Few, Nadina Mackie and the Toronto Chamber Orchestra,Le Vent des Andes, a symphonic fantasy commissioned by the Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra, and two concertos commissioned by Guy Few and Madina Mackie, which premiered at the Glenn Gould Studio in Toronto in February 2008 on the occasion of an event the CBC broadcast throughout Canada. In August 2009, hisBassano, in its version for bassoon and string orchestra, was awarded Third Prize in the category Contemporary Classical Song at the Just Plain Folks Awards in Nashville, Tennessee.

Louis-Philippe MARSOLAIS | Horn

After playing as solo horn with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra and associate solo horn with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Louis-Philippe Marsolais is now Artistic Director of Pentaèdre and solo horn with the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal. Renowned recitalist, concert and chamber music musician, he performs regularly in North America, Europe and Asia. He was awarded three prizes at the prestigious Munich Competition in 2005, and also won numerous first prizes in national and international competitions, among which the Geneva Competition, the Mozart Competition of Rovereto and the Concours international de cor de Trévoux. As a soloist, he performed with various symphony orchestras, such as Montréal, Québec, Trois-Rivières, Longueuil, Peterborough, the Bavarian Radio Orchestra, and chamber orchestras of Munich, Geneva, Neuchatel, Zurich and Montreal, the Haydn Orchestra in Bolzano, Les Violons du Roy and the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ). At the Prix d’Europe 2001, his interest for contemporary music won him first prize from the Canadian Music Center, awarded to the best performance of a canadian work. Since then, he premiered several works by Canadian, Swiss, German and French composers, for solo horn, horn and tape and small chamber ensembles.
Louis-Philippe Marsolais is now professor at the music faculty of Université de Montréal.