Orchestre Métropolitain presents

Chœur Métropolitain | Sacred Gilles Vigneault

Renowned songwriter Gilles Vigneault’s mass is at once divine and unceremonious. His lyrics and melodies feature his signature simplicity and candour, with passages sung in Innu in a nod to his native Natashquan.

The evening will be rounded out by another mass inspired by musical folklore from the Americas—Argentinian composer Ariel Ramirez’s Misa Criolla. Like Vigneault’s mass, this work translates the spirit of a culture into music.

Artists
Chœur Métropolitain

Comprising around 100 members, the Choir joins the Orchestre Métropolitain during its regular seasons to perform the great works of the repertoire.

Along with the Orchestre’s musicians under the baton of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Choir has delivered memorable performances of Rachmaninoff’s The Bells, Janáček’s Glagolitic Mass, Bruckner’s Mass No. 3 in F minor and Wagner’s operas Lohengrin and Parsifal at the Festival de Lanaudière, Dvořák’s Stabat Mater, Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion, Handel’s Messiah, Verdi’s Requiem, Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 2, “Lobgesang” and Mozart’s Great Mass in C minor. These performances have earned the Choir critical acclaim.

Over the years, the Choir has performed with many internationally renowned singers, including Mihoko Fujimura, Peter Rose, Christian Elsner, Diana Damrau, Renée Fleming, Karina Gauvin, Maria Guleghina, Marc Hervieux, Hiromi Omura, Henriette Schellenberg, Bryn Terfel, Julie Boulianne, Heidi Melton, Andrew Foster-Williams, Karen Cargill, Philippe Sly and other great voices from here and elsewhere.

Pierre Tourville, chorus master

Born in Trois-Rivières, Pierre Tourville studied the viola in his native city and then at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, where he obtained first prizes for viola and chamber music under the tutelage of Robert Verebes.

The recipient of a Fonds FCAR scholarship in 1997-1998, he continued his studies at Boston’s New England Conservatory with Marcus Thompson. Co-founder of La Chapelle de Montréal in 1995, Pierre Tourville is actively involved with the ensemble as a violist, singer and administrator.

For several years, he was also principal viola with the Orchestre Réseau des Conservatoires, the Orchestre Mondial des Jeunesses Musicales and at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. ln 2002, he obtained a full-time position with the Orchestre Métropolitain, where he is currently assistant principal viola. A member of the Ensemble Allegra, he has also been part of the Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal and the Appassionata chamber orchestra. ln addition, he performs regularly with members of The Philadelphia Orchestra in various concerts organized by the city’s Chamber Music Society.

Alongside his orchestra and chamber music activities, Pierre Tourville teaches the viola and prepares choruses. Since 2000, he has been one of the two chorus masters of the Chœur Métropolitain.

François A. Ouimet, chorus master

François A. Ouimet is a chorus master, singer and musician with many interests. Besides directing the Chœur Métropolitain, he works with primary school, high school and college-level choruses at the École de musique Vincent-d’Indy.

He also sings regularly with choral groups and plays the guitar in various projects. Versatile, passionate, positive and exacting, he is much in demand and gives choral singing workshops across Quebec and Canada.

April 5, 2025 at 7:30pm
Maison symphonique

To purchase your tickets, visit: www.placedesarts.com