Cameron Crozman et le génie des Lumières

Nicolas Ellis is the Artistic Director and Founder of the Orchestre de l’Agora and currently serves as Artistic Partner to the Orchestre Métropolitain and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. He was recently named principal guest conductor of Les Violons du Roy.

Mr. Ellis has been invited as guest conductor with Les Violons du Roy, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the Orchestre Métropolitain, Symphony Nova Scotia, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the Ottawa Symphony and the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and has had the opportunity to perform with artists such as cellist Jean-Guihen Queyras, countertenor Anthony Roth Constanzo and pianist Charles Richard-Hamelin.

He completed his Master’s Degree at the McGill University in conducting with Alexis Hauser and was a conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival where he studied with Robert Spano. During the summer of 2019, he was part of the Verbier Festival Academy where he acted as assistant conductor to Music Director Valery Gergiev on a production of Die Frau ohne Schatten.

In 2013, he founded the Orchestre de l’Agora, an orchestra whose mission is to position the classical musician as an agent of social change within the community. The ensemble has built collaborations with the music program of the Share the Warmth Foundation and Les Porteurs de musique, giving workshops to kids coming from underprivileged neighbourhoods and to people who don’t have access to music such as psychiatric centres, prisons and shelters for women. Their recent production of Britten’s The Turn of the Screw in collaboration with the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal was recorded by ICI Musique and CBC Music and has been broadcasted nationally. During the 2019-2020 season, the orchestra underwent its first tour across Québec, presenting 16 concerts as a string ensemble. On April 22nd 2020, the Orchestre de l’Agora donated $138,000 to Earth Day Canada, the Sierra Club Canada and Nature Conservancy of Canada through the Gala de la Terre, an important fundraising event to protect the St-Laurent River’s estuary. In February 2020, the Orchestre de l’Agora was also the resident orchestra of the Atelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal during a two week intensive clinic on Bel canto repertoire.

Nicolas Ellis is the recipient of the 2017 Bourse de carrière Fernand-Lindsay and the Heinz Unger Award 2015 delivered by the Ontario Arts Council and was recently named Revelation of the year 2018-2019 by Radio-Canada.

Named “Canada’s next big cello star” by CBC Music and selected 2019-20 Classical Révélation artist of ICI-Musique Radio-Canada, cellist Cameron Crozman is making a name for himself both at home and internationally. Performing recitals and chamber music across Canada and the USA as well as over in Europe, engagements have taken him to such world-renowned venues as the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, Berliner Philharmonie, Paris Philharmonie, Philadelphia's Mann Centre, and Canada's National Arts Centre. He has appeared as a soloist with major orchestras across Canada including the Montreal, Winnipeg, Quebec, Hamilton, and Vancouver Island Symphonies under the direction of conductors including Gemma New, Fabien Gabel, and Edwin Outwater. As the recipient of the Canada Council Michael Measure’s prize, he was the featured soloist with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada and conductor Alain Trudel during their 2012 tour of Canada and the USA. Current season highlights include appearances with I Musici, the Niagara Symphony, a tour of the Canadian Prairies, and a performance at America’s National Museum of Music.

An avid collaborator and chamber musician, Mr. Crozman regularly shares the stage with world-renowned artists including James Ehnes, Augustin Hadelich, Boris Giltburg, Martin Beaver, Inon Barnatan, James Campbell, Hue Watkins, Gerard Caussé, and members of the Ébène, New Zealand, and Penderecki String Quartets. He regularly appears at festivals around the world such as the Seattle Chamber Music Festival, Ottawa Chamberfest, Toronto Summer Music Festival, Montreal Chamber Music Festival, Helsinki Musica Nova, Birmingham Frontiers Festival, and Musique et Vin festival at Clos Vougeot in Burgundy. His performances have been broadcast on CBC/Radio-Canada, Radio France, Radio Classique, and Medici.tv.

Mr. Crozman’s debut album, Cavatine, recorded on the ca. 1696 “Bonjour” Stradivarius cello, was released to critical acclaim in 2019 and described by the France’s publication Classica Magazine as displaying “technical perfection with a personal style that leaves us wanting to hear more.” His most recent solo recording of the Britten Cello Suites, debuted in Monaco in the presence of Princess Caroline of Hannover, is already garnering similar praise, receiving highest marks from Diapason Magazine, one of the world’s leading classical music publications.