Curls and Arabesques – October 17, Salle Claude-Léveillée

Pro Musica presents

Les Mélodînes

Curls and Arabesques

A spellbinding French-flavored mélange of Benjamin Morency’s flute and Matt Dupont’s harp.

Benjamin Morency, flute

Benjamin was accepted at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal in 2010 where he spent 6 years under the guidance of Marie-Andrée Benny.  After completing his Baccalaureate degree, he pursued his studies at the Yale School of Music with internationally renowned flutist and pedagogue, Ransom Wilson, recently obtaining a Master of Music degree.  Additionally, Benjamin has taken master classes with flutists such as Mathieu Dufour, Emmanuel Pahud, Philippe Bernold, Jeanne Baxtresser, and Robert Langevin.

In addition to distinguishing himself in regional competitions, notably winning the Grand Prize at the Concours de Musique Classique de Lanaudière (2013), and placing first in his category at the Sorel Tracy Festival in 2011 and 2013, Benjamin was awarded the first prize at the Canadian Music Competition in 2010. Most recently, Benjamin received the Grand Prize at the prestigious OSM Manulife Competition, making his début with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Benjamin has also been invited as a guest soloist with the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal, the Redlands Symphony Orchestra, and the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra.

In January 2018, he recorded Sergei Prokofiev’s Sonata for Flute and Piano op.94, Francis Poulenc’s Flute and Piano Sonata, and Denis Gougeon’s L’Oiseau Blessé with pianist Mariane Patenaude in Radio-Canada studios, subsequently broadcasted on ICI-Musique. In February, he performed Le Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune at the Weill Recital Hall in Carnegie Hall with the Rolston Sting Quartet, June Han, and his colleagues from the Yale School of Music. Benjamin is a Wm. S. Haynes young Artist.

Matt Dupont, harp

Native of France, Matt Dupont began the harp at the age of 8. Since then, he fell in love with the instrument. He obtained a Bachelor of Music and Musicology in 2013 at the prestigious Paris-Sorbonne Paris IV University while completing a music degree at the Paris Centre Conservatory. The next year, Matt received a scholarship from the Soochow University to study at the brand new Soochow University School of Music under the tutelage of Nicolas Tulliez in China. On his way to discover the world, he moved to Canada. Matt graduated from a Master of Music in 2017, in the studio of Heidi Krutzen at the University of British Columbia. During summer 2016, Matt was chosen to feature with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada as Principal Harp for their Portugal tour. Finally, Matt decided to finish his studies at the University of Montreal. There, he received the Jamet-Lardé merit scholarship and graduated from an Artist Diploma under the tutelage of Caroline Lizotte in May 2018. Now, Matt serves orchestras as guest principal harpist while working on various chamber group projects.

Matt was appointed harp instructor at the Vincent d’Indy School of Music, in Montréal, last september 2018.

Recently, Matt has made his debut performing as Guest Principal Harpist with the Québec Symphony Orchestra, the Saguenay-Lac St Jean Symphony Orchestra and also in the past production of Das Rheingold with the Orchestre Métropolitain serving as third harp.

For information and tickets: www.placedesarts.com  514-842-2112 or 1-866-842-2112