Véronique Lacroix | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Véronique Lacroix

Véronique Lacroix, conductor b Chicoutimi, Que 4 Jul 1963; Dip (Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal [CMM]) 1988.

Véronique Lacroix

Véronique Lacroix, conductor b Chicoutimi, Que 4 Jul 1963; Dip (Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal [CMM]) 1988.

Véronique Lacroix initially studied flute at the Conservatoire de musique de Chicoutimi. She completed her studies in 1988 at the CMM receiving prizes in conducting, chamber music, and compositional techniques. After leaving the conservatoire, she formed the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (ECM+), where she has remained the artistic director in 2011, and embarked on an active conducting career.

Between 1987 and 1994, she successively held positions as artistic director of the West Island Youth Symphony Orchestra, the Opéra Comique du Québec, the CAMMAC Orchestra and the Orchestre symphonique de Lanaudière. From 1994 to 1996, she was principal conductor of the Scarborough Philharmonic (Ontario). Beginning in 1995, she has been in charge of the contemporary music performance class at the CMM.

As of 1988, Véronique Lacroix has appeared as a guest conductor with the CBC Radio Orchestra (Vancouver), the National Arts Centre Orchestra (Ottawa), the Kiev Camerata ensemble (Ukraine), the orchestra of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec, the ensemble Barcelona 216 (Spain), Ensemble Arc-en-ciel de Winterthur (Switzerland), the Orchestre Symphonique du Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean, the Orchestre symphonique de Laval, the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, and the Saskatoon Symphony.

Acknowledged as a leading specialist in contemporary Canadian repertoire, Véronique Lacroix has conducted the premieres of nearly 200 works by Québec and Canadian composers. She has also directed the ECM+ in recordings on the labels SNE, Port-Royal, Phonovox, Atma, Oxingale and Centredisques.

Véronique Lacroix has received the Prix du Domaine Forget (1987), the Jean-Marie- Beaudet Award from the Canada Council for the Arts (1990 and 1991), the Heinz Unger Award from the Ontario Arts Council (1994), the Prix Opus for Artistic Director of the Year (2007), and the Friends of Canadian Music Award (2009) from the Canadian Music Centre and the Canadian League Of Composers.

Selected Discography

Fin de siècle, nouvelle musique montréalaise, SNE, 1994, SNE-590-CD

Mozart-Gonneville, Port-Royal, 1996, PR2207-2

Cantate pour la fin du jour, Phonovox, 1996, VOX 7824-2

Al-Hamra, Atma, 1997, ACD 22146

Nouveaux Territoires 01, Atma, 2000, ACD 22229

Nouveaux Territoires 02, Atma, 2003, ACD 22208

Ana Sokolovic: Jeu des portraits, Centredisques/SRC, 2006, CMCCD 11406

Après Moi, Le Déluge, Oxingale Records, 2006, OX 2006

Nouveaux Territoires 03, Atma, 2009, ACD 22582

Further Reading