Les Violons du Roy is a French-Canadian

chamber orchestra Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numbe ...

based in

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. The orchestra's principal venue is the Palais Montcalm in Québec City. The orchestra also performs concerts in

Montréal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

at the

Place des Arts Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Often ...

, the

Montreal Museum of Fine Arts The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA; french: Musée des beaux-arts de Montréal, MBAM) is an art museum in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the largest art museum in Canada by gallery space. The museum is located on the historic Golden Square ...

and St. James United Church. In 1984, Bernard Labadie founded the ensemble, following productions at the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

of the Baroque operas ''

Dido and Aeneas ''Dido and Aeneas'' (Z. 626) is an opera in a prologue and three acts, written by the English Baroque composer Henry Purcell with a libretto by Nahum Tate. The dates of the composition and first performance of the opera are uncertain. It was co ...

'' and ''

L'incoronazione di Poppea ''L'incoronazione di Poppea'' ( SV 308, ''The Coronation of Poppaea'') is an Italian opera by Claudio Monteverdi. It was Monteverdi's last opera, with a libretto by Giovanni Francesco Busenello, and was first performed at the Teatro Santi Giovanni ...

'', using the orchestra for these productions as the new ensemble's core. The ensemble's name is an adaptation of the 17th century French royal court orchestra Les Vingt-quatre Violons du Roi. Numbering 15 musicians, the orchestra performs on modern instruments, but incorporates period performance practice into its performances of music from the 17th and 18th centuries, including using duplicates of period bows for string instruments, and sparing use of ''vibrato''. Labadie founded an affiliate chorus for ''Les Violons du Roy'' in 1985, under the original name of ''Ensemble vocal Bernard Labadie''. In 1991, the choir changed its name to ''La Chapelle de Québec''. The ensemble first performed in Europe in 1988. Its first performance in

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was in 1995. The orchestra first appeared in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in August 1997. Past conductors affiliated with the orchestra have included

Jean-Marie Zeitouni Jean-Marie is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Jean-Marie Abgrall (born 1950), a French psychiatrist, criminologist, specialist in forensic medicine, cult expert, and graduate in criminal law * Jean-Marie Ch ...

, a past principal guest conductor, and Eric Paetkau, a former resident conductor. Mathieu Lussier is the current associate conductor of the orchestra, and

Anthony Marwood Anthony Marwood is a British solo violinist. Early life He was born 6 July 1965 to Michael Travers Marwood and Anne née Chevallier. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Chelmsford. He then studied at the Royal Academy of Music and t ...

has the title of principal artistic partner. With the 2014–2015 season, Labadie's title with the orchestra changed from music director to "founding conductor". In October 2016, the orchestra announced the appointment of Jonathan Cohen as its next music director, effective with the 2017–2018 season. Cohen is scheduled to take the title of music director designate in February 2017. The orchestra has recorded commercially for the Dorian,

Virgin Classics Virgin Classics was a record label founded in 1988 as part of Richard Branson's Virgin Records. The unit, along with EMI Classics, was acquired by Universal Music in 2012 as part of the takeover of the EMI Group, however the terms of the European ...

, and

ATMA Classique ATMA Classique is a Canadian record label based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1994 by Johanne Goyette, the company has close to 600 titles in its catalogue and distributes in over 25 countries and on the internet. Several recordings released ...

labels. The ensemble has won the Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year twice: for their recording of

George Frideric Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel (; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque music, Baroque composer well known for his opera#Baroque era, operas, oratorios, anthems, concerto grosso, concerti grossi, ...

's ''

Apollo e Dafne ''Apollo e Dafne'' (Apollo and Daphne, HWV 122) is a secular cantata composed by George Frideric Handel in 1709–10. Handel began composing the work in Venice in 1709 and completed it in Hanover after arriving in 1710 to take up his appoi ...

'' and Handel's ''Silete Venti'' in 2001, and for their recording of

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

in 2003.

Music Directors

* Bernard Labadie (1984–2014) * Jonathan Cohen (2017–present)

References

External links

Official Les Violons du Roy homepage (French-language)

Official Les Violons du Roy homepage (English-language)

David Vernier, "Les Violons du Roy's 24-Karat Goldbergs", ''ClassicsToday.com'' article (undated)

* ttp://www.atmaclassique.com/en/artistes/artisteinfo.aspx?artisteid=1211 ATMA record label biography of Les Violons du Roy
La Scena Musicale version of Les Violons du Roy press release on change of Labadie title (ensemble press release had no date), 8 July 2013
{{DEFAULTSORT:Violons du roy, Les Canadian orchestras Chamber orchestras Juno Award for Classical Album of the Year – Vocal or Choral Performance winners Musical groups established in 1984 Musical groups from Quebec City