Mathieu Lussier

A versatile musician with a commanding grasp of early repertoire, Mathieu Lussier is increasingly in demand as a guest conductor in Canada and abroad. Recently appointed as the artistic co-director and guest conductor of the Arion Baroque Orchestra, Lussier begins brings new artistic ideas and direction to the growing organization. Appointed by Les Violons du Roy as Conductor-in-Residence in 2012, and Associate Conductor in 2014, Lussier has led the orchestra in numerous programs both in Quebec, and on tour in greater Canada, the United States and Mexico. Previous appointments include Artistic Director of the Lamèque International Baroque Music Festival. In 2014, Lussier was awarded Canada Art Council’s prestigious Jean-Marie Beaudet Award in Orchestra Conducting.

Recently, Mathieu Lussier conducted the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Manitoba Chamber Orchestra, and St. John Catherdral in Denver, Colorado. He also made his debuts with Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and Symphony Nova Scotia in Halifax. Recent conducting engagements include the Festival International de Lanaudière; Orchestre de la Mission Saint-Charles; Arion Baroque Orchestra; Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal; and Atelier Lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal, where he conducted an acclaimed production of Handel’s Acis and Galatea and Grétry’s Zémire et Azor. In addition to his guest appearances with Sherbrooke Symphony Orchestra, Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestra and the Montréal Symphony Orchestra (OSM), Lussier periodically returns to Les Violons du Roy. He has also been Assistant Professor at Université de Montréal.

As a soloist appearing throughout North America and Europe, Mathieu Lussier has energetically and passionately promoted the modern and baroque bassoon as solo instruments for nearly two decades. He has performed with such ensembles as Arion Baroque Orchestra (Montreal), Les Violons du Roy (Quebec City), Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra (Toronto), the Boston Early Music Festival Orchestra, and Apollo’s Fire (Cleveland). He also devotes considerable time to chamber music as a member of Ensemble Pentaèdre de Montréal.

His numerous solo recordings include over a dozen bassoon concertos (Vivaldi, Fasch, Graupner, Telemann, and Corrette), a CD of bassoon sonatas by Boismortier, three CDs of music for solo bassoon by François Devienne, and two CDs of wind music by Gossec and Méhul.

Mathieu Lussier is also a respected composer, with a catalogue of over 40 titles heard regularly in the concert halls of North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. In 2009, his composition Bassango, in its version for bassoon and string orchestra, won the third prize in the Contemporary Classical Song category at the Just Plain Folks Awards of Nashville, Tennessee. He has received commissions from artists such as Nadina Mackie Jackson, Guy Few, Lise Beauchamp, and George Zukerman as well as from the American Wind Symphony Orchestra, Oshawa-Durham Symphony Orchestra, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra and Les Idées Heureuses. Mathieu Lussier’s music has been recorded on numerous occasions and is broadcast all around the world. Dos Tropicos, a wind quintet, has been performed over 100 times in Canada, Europe and the United Kingdom. His compositions are published by TrevCo Music (USA), Accolade (Germany), June Emerson (UK) and Gérard Billaudot (France).

October 23, 2022: Mathieu Lussier and The Domaine Forget De Charlevoix Festival Raise $135,000 at Fundraising Event
- Le Charlevoisien

June 2, 2022: Mathieu Lussier Appointed Artistic Director of Domaine Forget de Charlevoix Festival
- Ludwig Van Montreal

October 21, 2019: Mathieu Lussier Appointed Artistic Director of Arion Baroque Orchestra
- The Montreader

LES VIOLONS DU ROY SILKY SMOOTH AT WILLIAMS CENTER
“The orchestra, similar in size to the conductorless Orpheus, owes as much of its clean and crisp sound to its conductor, Mathieu Lussier, as it does to the fact it is string-dominated, with a mere pair of oboes, a pair of horns, and a bassoon. Yet even the woods and brass made a fine performance in Rameau’s bouncy work, especially so in a lovely bassoon obbligato. The final section, a toe-tapping contra dance, reveled in French Baroque majesty.”
– Steve Siegel, Morning Call (PA)

ANDRÉ HAMELIN AND LES VIOLONS DU ROY – DOMINION-CHALMERS UNITED CHURCH
“Lussier is a classical triple threat: In addition to conducting, he is a sought-after composer and a virtuoso player of both the Baroque and the modern bassoon. Musically, he proved a worthy right-hand man to Bernard Labadie. Rameau’s Suite from his late opera Les Boréades was stamped with all the hallmarks that have made Les Violons du Roy so dominant in the French Baroque repertoire: vivid articulation, limpid phrasing and easy grace. The lilting, pastoral second movement was lovingly rendered.”
– Natasha Gauthier, Ottawa Citizen