Stephanie Blythe is one of the world’s greatest singers, and she will perform in Montreal with les Violons du Roy during the orchestra’s first concert of their season at Place des Arts’ Maison Symphonique. It was only a few years ago that the Quebec City based orchestra and its founder Bernard Labadie played an initial few concerts in Montreal. Since then, the orchestra and the accompanying choir, La Chapelle de Quebec, has developed a solid Montreal following and the frequency of their concerts has increased dramatically, both at the new concert hall and also at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts’ intimate Bourgie Hall.

The Montreal concert will be the first of a North American tour by Ms. Blythe and Les Violons du Roy, during which they will present works by Handel and Hayden. One of the premiere vocalists of her generation, Stephanie Blythe is known for her powerful voice, versatility and charismatic stage presence.

During her brilliant career she has performed at many of the world’s famous opera houses, including the San Francisco Opera, the Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, the l’Opéra National de Paris and with her ‘home’ company, New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Her numerous leading roles have included Carmen, Samson and Delilah, Orfeo ed Euridice et Julius Caesar. She has worked with some of the world’s leading conductors, including Charles Dutoit, James Conlon, Christopher Eschenbach, James Levine and Mstislav Rostropovitch.

For her debut with Les Violons du Roy, Ms. Blythe will bring all of her dramatic presence to Haydn’s cantata Arianna a Naxos and three arias from the opera Julius Caesar by Handel. To complete the evening’s program, Bernard Labadie will conduct the Suite for Orchestra in C Major by Telemann, and the Suite #4 in D Major for Orchestra by JS Bach.

It promises to be an outstanding premiere performance before setting out on a tour that will take the orchestra and Stephanie Blythe to eight American cities, including Chicago, San Francisco (Berkley) and New York.

For tickets, please call 514-842-2112 or visit www.laplacedesarts.com