An accomplished musician, Canadian conductor Michel Brousseau is presently Conductor and Artistic Director of the New World Philharmonic Orchestra and Choir, the Ottawa Classical Choir, Les Chanteurs de Sainte-Thérèse Choir, the Tremblant Choir and the International Choir.
Michel Brousseau was introduced to music very early in his life. His passion and talent were further noticed and he underwent intensive piano studies at the age of nine. He rapidly developped a thirst for symphonic music and, at the age of fourteen, he already knew that he would become a conductor. Studying conducting under maestro Raffi Armenian’s direction, he graduated from the Montreal Music Conservatory, where he obtained the First Prize in piano by unanimous decision. He also studied conducting with Otto Werner-Müller, Milen Nachev, Valery Vachev and Aldo Faldi, among others. He has conducted in Italy, France, Czech Republic, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, the United States and Canada.
Michel Brousseau’s passion for opera has attained new heights in recent years and he now devotes most of his art to this area. He is frequently invited to conduct in various European opera houses, In 2005, he was finalist of the International “Luigi Mancinelli” Opera Conducting Competition that was held in Italy. A recording showcasing the most beautiful Slavic and Italian arias for soprano and orchestra, under Michel Brousseau’s baton, will be released shortly.
Between 1995 and 1999, he was Artistic Coordinator of the Montreal Music Conservatory where one of his roles was to promote the talent of young musicians. His wish to support young talent is still a priority for him as he is now involved with the Laurentians Arts Foundation, whose sole purpose is to promote the arts in the youth community.
In 2006, he was awarded the Grand Prize for Regional Artistic Creation in the Laurentians by the Quebec Council for the Arts, for his achievements in that region.
In 2007, as he was in France visiting Francis Dubois, great-grandson of the French composer Théodore Dubois, Michel Brousseau discovered some of the pieces yet unknown to the public. Facing obviously a high level of artistic accomplishment, he made it his mission to bring that heritage to the public knowledge. Théodore Dubois (1837-1924) has been totally forgotten for almost a century. A contemporary of Gabriel Fauré, Camille Saint-Saëns, Charles Gounod, just to name a few of them, Théodore Dubois has been a prolific composer, writing orchestral and opera works, as well as chamber music pieces, melodies and concertos. Two of his works were performed in concert – Messe solennelle de Saint-Remi, (North-American Premiere, May 2008) and Messe de la Délivrance (World Premiere, May 2009). These works were released on a CD under the ATMA Classique label in April 2010.
In June 2008, he made his debuts with the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra (Bulgaria) for the performance of Puccini’s Suor Angelica and Messa di Gloria. In August of the same year, Michel Brousseau and his choirs undertook a tour in Sicily (Italy); they performed a series of concerts in the provinces of Catania and Ragusa where they participated in the “14th Premio Ragusani Nel Mondo” in the city of Ragusa. The tour met with frank success and led to a second invitation to perform once again in Sicily, with the presentation of Mascagni’s opera Cavalleria Rusticana, at Taormina’s Greek Theatre, as well as in other venues in August 2010.
In 2010, following the success of the various international tours and invitations, Michel Brousseau created the International Choir, which comprises choristers from his four choirs as well as a selection of the best voices in choral music in Quebec for the sole purpose of performing abroad. Michel Brousseau and the International Choir were invited to perform the Saint-Remi Solemn Mass by Theodore Dubois at New York’s Carnegie Hall with the New England Symphony Ensemble in June 2010. This event was the first presentation of this piece on American soil.
