Eric Paetkau is music director and founder of the Toronto-based group of twenty-seven chamber orchestra, and is resident conductor of Les Violons du Roy. He has also held the position of assistant conductor of orchestral studies and opera at the University of Kentucky, as well as cover conductor for the Lexington Philharmonic.

 

Since beginning his tenure with Les Violons du Roy in fall 2009, Mr. Paetkau has been programming and conducting the romantic, 20th century, and contemporary repertoire, as well as much baroque and classical music. He has collaborated with soloists Catherine Perrin, Charlotte Corwin, Denis Plante, and Pascale Giguère, among others, and has led the orchestra on tour a number of times, most recently to Ontario, New Brunswick, and all over the province of Quebec, in addition to concerts at the ensemble’s home hall, Palais Montcalm, in Quebec City. He has conducted at a number of festivals, including the Elora Festival, the Ottawa Music and Beyond Festival, and the Grand River Baroque Festival.

 

Upcoming concerts for the 2011–2012 season include Mr. Paetkau's debut with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, a performance with world-renowned Canadian alto, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, and a series of concerts presenting Vivaldi's L'Estro Armonico with Les Violons du Roy.

 

Also a violist, Mr. Paetkau was a member of the Nuremburg Symphony in Germany, and has played with the Toronto Symphony, Les Violons du Roy, the Canadian Opera Company, the National Ballet, and Tafelmusik.

 

Mr. Paetkau received his early musical training in Canada with Lorand Fenyves and later with Steven Dann. He then continued his studies with James Dunham at the New England Conservatory and with Hariolf Schlichtig at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, Germany. Mr. Paetkau also studied conducting under Jac van Steen in the Netherlands and Kenneth Kiesler in North America.