Louise Bessette

A versatile musician and piano wizard, Louise Bessette is much in demand as a concert artist in Europe, the Americas, and Asia. Numerous organizations and international competitions have recognized her talent with awards, and her reviews are invariably laudatory. She has recorded a broad range of repertoire both as a soloist and with chamber ensembles, appearing the world over with distinguished orchestras and by invitation to first-rate festivals. Many composers have written especially for her.

In 2019, Louise Bessette received the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award in Classical Music from the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards. The GGPAAs are Canada’s highest honour in the performing arts. In 2016, the University of Western Ontario conferred a degree of Doctor of Music, honoris causa upon her to celebrate her accomplishments as an internationally recognized performer.

As a pianist with an eclectic repertoire, and eager to promote exchanges with other art forms, Louise Bessette recorded works by Alkan and Grieg for the soundtrack of French director Julie Lopes-Curval’s 2009 Hidden Diary, starring Catherine Deneuve and Marie-Josée Croze. It was premiered at the Festival des films du monde de Montréal that same year and subsequently in cinemas around the world.

Louise Bessette received her tenth Opus Prize from the Conseil québécois de la musique in 2021. In 2015, she was listed as one of Canada’s top 25 pianists by CBC Music. Her awards include first prizes at the Eckhardt-Gramatté National Music Competition (1981), the Concours international de musique contemporaine (SaintGermain-en-Laye, 1986), and the International Gaudeamus Competition (Rotterdam, 1989); Femme de l’année at Salon de la femme de Montréal (Arts category, 1989); and the Prix Québec-Flandre (1991). She is a Member of the Order of Canada (2001), an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec (2005), and Canadian Music Centre Ambassador (2009). Louise Bessette has been a professor of piano at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal since 1996.

Chloé Dominguez

Chloé Dominguez is a young cellist who recently completed her Doctorate in Music performance at McGill University, where she won the largest privately funded music scholarship in Canada, the Schulich School of Music's Golden Violin award. She also earned an Artist Diploma and a Master of Music in performance, at McGill, as well as a diploma from the Conservatoire de Montreal. In 2007 she won first prize at the Festival de musique du Royaume, as well as Radio-Canada's Prix Jeunes Artistes.

Ms. Dominguez is the solo cellist of l’Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal +, directed by Véronique Lacroix and she plays regularly with the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec under the direction of Walter Boudreau. In addition, she is regularly invited as a soloist by the best contemporary music ensembles in Montréal, and she never hesitates to go off the beaten path in her artistic exploration. She has premiered several works, notably three pieces for cello and electronics by composer Sean Ferguson: Ex Asperis (2008), Duo pour un violoncelle et un danseur (2008) as well as Miroirs (2007). Active as a chamber musician, Ms. Dominguez is a member of the Trio Morpheus ensemble, the ensemble Spirit’20, the Trio Lajoie, and the cello ensemble formed by Matt Haimovitz, Uccello. Chloé plays on a 1745 Lorenzo Carcassi cello.

In 2019, the cellist participated in the recording of André Mathieu: Musique de chambre, alongside Jean-Philippe Sylvestre (piano), Andrea Tyniec (violin), Marc Djokic (violin) and Elvira Misbakhova (viola). The disc was released in May 2019, on the ATMA Classique label.

Marc Djokic

Canadian violinist Marc Djokic is the Concertmaster of l’Orchestre classique de Montréal and Music Director of ART CRUSH Ensembl’arts. He is a Mécénat Musica Prix Goyer recipient and winner of the 2020 ECMA Classical Recording of the Year for his debut album Solo Seven. Among other distinctions, Djokic is a Prix Opus laureate and has continuously taken on the role of Artist-in-Residence at various institutions and music festivals since 2009. Over the last four years he has been featured in over 100 music videos and video recordings. 

From BC Contact to Jeunesses Musicales and Debut Atlantic, Djokic has toured several times throughout Canada and internationally as an accomplished chamber musician. As a soloist Djokic has performed with orchestras such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Quebec Symphony Orchestra. He will be premiering the violin concerto written for him by Robert Rival, Under the Shadow of the Cypresses, in a multi-city tour with several orchestras in 2022 – 2023. 

Born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Djokic grew up in a large musical family; he first and foremost studied with his father Philippe Djokic, one of Canada’s great soloists and a pupil of the violin pedagogue Ivan Galamian. Marc Djokic continued his studies in the United States under the tutelage of David Russell, Donald Weilerstein and Jaime Laredo. He performs on a rare Guarnerius violin from 1740, a Carl Becker 1927 and a Hannibal Fagnola 1922.