Les guitares du Roy

Véronique Vychytil began to take violin lessons at the age of 4 with her father, Vaclav Vychytil. After graduating from the University of Montréal where she was a student of Jean-François Rivest, she went on to study with Kathleen Winkler at the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara.

With the support of a scholarship from Le Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, Véronique Vychytil worked with various teachers in Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland. She was also a member of the Jeunesses Musicales world orchestra, performing in several European countries.

Véronique Vychytil won First Prize and the Janácek Prize at the Czech and Slovakian music competition in Montréal, and was invited to attend the Brno academy of music in the fall of 1998. She has won prizes in several national competitions, including the Canadian music competition.

Since July 2000, Véronique Vychytil has been a member of the chamber orchestra Les Violons du Roy. She has also performed as a chamber musician in festivals around Québec.

Violinist Michelle Seto has been a member of the dynamic Quebec City chamber orchestra, Les Violons du Roy since 1992. She has appeared as soloist with some of Canada’s leading orchestras, including the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and with her own ensemble, Les Violons du Roy.

As a student, she distinguished herself by winning the first prizes in several of Canada’s national competitions, including the Canadian Music Competition, the CIBC Competition, the Début Series, and the Quebec Symphony Competition. She was the recipient of a Canada Council “B” Grant, which enabled her study to pursue her graduate studies in Boston at the New England Conservatory with James Buswell. Before that, she studied with Mauricio Fuks at McGill University and in London, England. Michelle Seto was born in Shawinigan to Chinese and Filipino parents. She grew up in Vancouver.

Annie Morrier entered Conservatoire de musique de Chicoutimi at age 5. In 1996, she moved to Quebec City to study under François Paradis. During her studies, she played with Orchestre Réseau des Conservatoires, the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, and the Jeunesses Musicales World Orchestra, performing in Europe, the U.S., and across Canada. She honed her craft at the Domaine Forget summer academy, studying under renowned teachers such as Gérard Caussé and Bruno Giuranna. In 2001, she performed as a soloist with Orchestre des jeunes du Conservatoire and Orchestre symphonique de Québec. That same year, she graduated from the Conservatory with high distinction.

Annie Morrier has been a member of Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orchestre symphonique du Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, Quatuor Cartier, and contemporary music ensemble Erreur de Type 27. In addition to classical and contemporary music, Annie also performs traditional and Latin American music. Since 2005, she has been a permanent member of the Les Violons du Roy chamber orchestra. In 2015, she joined three other Quebec City area musicians and channeled her lifelong passion for chamber music into the group Quatuor Crema.

Principal cello of Les Violons du Roy, Benoît Loiselle also performs as a soloist and chamber musician. He appears regularly at various music festivals and events in Canada, and has played as a guest soloist with many orchestras, including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Les Violons du Roy, the Orchestre Métropolitain du Grand Montréal and most recently, the Orchestre de la Francophonie canadienne.

In great demand as a collaborator for both concerts and recordings, he has played alongside musicians such as James Ehnes, Anton Kuerti, Olivier Thouin, Stéphane Lemelin, Anne Robert and Luc Beauséjour. In 2002-2003, he took part in the Tournées Desjardins series of Jeunesses Musicales of Canada, performing concerts throughout Eastern Canada with pianist François Zeitouni. Alongside his concert schedule, he teaches cello at the Académie du Domaine Forget.

As a founding member of Trio Hochelaga, Benoît Loiselle performed with the group from 2000 to 2006 in all major canadian venues and on an Asian tour in the fall of 2004. The Trio Hochelaga was the dedicatee of the Triple Concerto by Canadian composer Jacques Hétu, and gave its first performance in 2003.

Benoît Loiselle graduated from the Montréal conservatory as a student of Denis Brott, and went on to study with Antonio Lysy at McGill University. In 1999, he won the Prix d’Europe award offered by L’Académie de Musique du Québec and used it to study in Switzerland with Radu Aldulescu and Alberto Lysy, at the International Menuhin Music Academy and with Camerata Lysy Gstaad.

From 2003 to 2006, Benoît Loiselle played on the McConnell-Gagliano cello loaned by the Instrument Bank of the Canada Arts Council. He currently plays on a beautiful Lamy bow, generously loaned by Canimex.

Raphaël McNabney was born into a family of musicians in Montréal in 1982, but only began to play the double bass at the age of 19, after studying the cello between the ages of 7 and 14 with Monique and Walter Joachim and Denis Brott.

After this five-year break, a decisive meeting with Joël Quarrington rekindled his interest in music, this time as a double bass player. He quickly began a career as a chamber musician and soloist, and in June 2007 was appointed as principal bass with Les Violons du Roy.