Philip Glass et Les Violons du Roy

With infectious enthusiasm, young conductor Thomas Le Duc-Moreau conducts with great precision and artistic sensitivity, creating an effective and human symbiosis that is appreciated by musicians and audiences alike. His discipline and musical culture enable him to approach the repertoire with meticulousness and consistency, in a style that unfolds with ease, flexibility, and elegance. Starting in the 2025-2026 season, he is associate conductor of the St. Andrew and St. Paul Church Choir, as well as a guest professor at Laval University.

Upon graduating from the Conservatory, Thomas Le Duc-Moreau held positions as assistant conductor with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. His early career was marked by notable collaborations. First as assistant to music director Kent Nagano, he also collaborated with guest conductors Bernard Labadie, Hannu Lintu, Cristian Măcelaru, Susanna Mälkki, Rafael Payare, and François-Xavier Roth. Since the beginning of his career, he has conducted more than 50 concerts with the OSM.

He has already collaborated on numerous opera productions. In particular, he conducted two new works in 2022 and 2023: Christian Thomas' Messe solennelle pour une pleine lune d'été, based on the play by Quebec author Michel Tremblay, and Yourcenar – Une île de passions by composer Éric Champagne, co-productions of the Quebec City Opera Festival, the Montreal Opera, and Les Violons du Roy. In the summer of 2024, he conducts La Vie parisienne at the Quebec City Opera Festival. He has also participated as assistant conductor in productions of Verdi's Il Trovatore and Puccini's Madame Butterfly at the Montreal Opera, Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer at the Quebec City Opera Festival, and Bizet's Carmen at the Bonn Theater in Germany.

In symphonic concerts, Thomas Le Duc-Moreau has conducted major Quebec and Canadian orchestras such as Les Violons du Roy and the Orchestre Métropolitain, as well as the symphony orchestras of Agora, Laval, Montreal, Quebec City, Rimouski, Saguenay, Sherbrooke, Hamilton, and Kitchener-Waterloo. He has also conducted the Prague National Theater Orchestra in the Czech Republic. In popular concert, he conducted Alexandra Stréliski's very first symphonic concert with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra as part of the Montreal Jazz Festival, broadcast on Radio-Canada television. 

In the summer of 2025, he returned to the Orford Music Festival with Les Violons du Roy for the third consecutive year.

Thomas Le Duc-Moreau graduated from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal with a degree in cello under Carole Sirois and in orchestral conducting under Jacques Lacombe. In 2022, he received the very first Joseph Rouleau Award from the Fondation du Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec in recognition of his promising early career.

Newly named the Gold Laureate & Audience Choice Award at the 2025 Honens International Piano Competition, Élisabeth Pion leads an imaginative career as a soloist and artistic collaborator. An enquiring and innovative artist, her recent highlights include her nomination as Révélation Radio-Canada 2024/2025, the release of her second album with ATMA Classique, a collaboration with Mathieu Lussier and Arion Orchestre Baroque titled Amadeus et l’Impératrice, as well as being awarded the 2nd prize of the 2024 Blanca Uribe International Piano Competition, the Pierre-Mantha Award from the Fondation Père-Lindsay, the Bita-Cattelan Philanthropic Engagement Award at the Concours musical international de Montréal 2024, the Rosalía de Castro Award at the 2024 Vigo International Piano Competition and the 3rd prize of the 2023 Rio Piano Festival - Tribute to Nelson Freire, performing with the Orquestra Sinfônica Brasileira. Her recording of Ravel Concerto in G major with the OSTR and Alain Trudel will be out in 2025.

Élisabeth Pion is a regular guest artist with orchestras such as the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Edmonton Symphony, the Brazilian Symphony, the Toledo Symphony, the Victoria Symphony, Les Violons du Roy, Arion Orchestre Baroque and Orchestre classique de Montréal. She has collaborated with conductors such as Kensho Watanabe, Roberto Tibiriçá, Andrés Felipe Jaime, Elizabeth Vergara, Alain Trudel, Mathieu Lussier, Nicolas Ellis, Andrei Feher, Jacques Lacombe, Geneviève Leclair and Gordon Gerrard, and has also fostered a close collaboration with conductor Thomas Le Duc-Moreau and the Ensemble Volte. She enjoys performing a broad range of concerto repertoire, engaging with known masterworks whilst simultaneously bringing unknown masterpieces to audiences.

An experienced recitalist, Élisabeth Pion has performed in prestigious venues such as Wigmore Hall and Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall. She can be heard on CBC/Radio-Classique, BBC Radio 3 and France Musique.

Élisabeth Pion also loves chamber music. Her partners on stage include Dame Imogen Cooper in four-hands duets, Juliana Koch (Principal Oboe at London Symphony Orchestra), Julie Price (Principal Bassoon at BBC Symphony), the Quatuor Cobalt, the Vertavo Quartet, the vocal ensemble Les Rugissants, and tenor Mark Padmore. She has been invited to perform as part of chamber music festivals such as IMS Prussia Cove Open Chamber Music, Leeds International Concert Season and Midsummer Music. She also cultivates a partnership with Greek mezzo-soprano Alexandra Achillea Pouta, with whom she has notably performed at the Barbican as well as Carnegie Hall. She was previously the pianist of the De Beauvoir Trio (2020 to 2023), a Britten-Pears Young Artists Programme Ensemble in residence, prize-winner of both the 2022 Stasys Vainiunas Competition and the 2021 Virtuoso & Bel Canto Competitions.

A creative musician, Élisabeth also composes. She has recently won the 2024 X World Short Film Festival Best Performance award, as well as the 2023 Best Original Score from the Vesuvius Festival for her music on ballet dancer Ysabelle Taylor’s short film Spirit of the Tree. She finds joy in meeting with inventive minds: she has had the chance to work with composer Thomas Adès during IMS Prussia Cove, as well as with Marc-André Hamelin during the Art of Piano program at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and most recently with Antoine Veillerette at the Festival Ravel. She has also been actively working with Professor David Dolan in classical improvisation and cadenza writing.

Over the years, Élisabeth Pion has been awarded many prizes and distinctions, amongst which the Choquette-Symcox Award from the Fondation Jeunesses Musicales Canada, the Prix Sylva Gelber for three consecutive years, the Silver Medal of the Musicians’ Company of London, the Jane Ades Ingenuity Scholarship, the 1st prize of the Thousand Islands International Piano Competition, and the 2018 Shean Piano Competition in Edmonton, which led her to be named in the CBC Palmares 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians under 30, and as one of 2018’s 15 Rising Stars from the magazine La Scena Musicale. Her first album with ATMA Classique was a finalist for the Prix Opus. She also is a Talent Unlimited Artist.

Élisabeth is an alumna of the Imogen Cooper Music Trust, and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, where she worked with Professor Ronan O’Hora and graduated with the Junior Fellowship, Artist Diploma and Artist Masters with highest honours. She has also studied conducting from the keyboard with Ricardo Castro at the Scuela di musica di Fiesole, and worked with Benedetto Lupo at the Accademia di Musica di Pinerolo. She previously worked in Canada with Francine Lacroix, Suzanne Goyette and André Laplante.

She is grateful for the guidance of the wonderful artists with whom she has had the privilege to work throughout her journey, such as Robert Levin, Yulianna Avdeeva, Alfred Brendel, Boris Berman, Leif Ove Andsnes, Claudio Martinez Mehner, Anne Queffélec, Bertrand Chamayou, Jean-Frédéric Neuburger, Cédric Pescia, Jonathan Biss, Maggie Cole, Christian Blackshaw, Stephen Hough, Joanna MacGregor, Richard Goode, Akiko Ebi, Paul Lewis, Adrian Brendel, Anthony Marwood and David Takeno.

Élisabeth is also the co-founder and co-artistic director of the Festival Unisson in Canada, founded in 2020 with cellist Agnès Langlois, an immersive festival drawing inspiration from Abramović’s The Artist is Present.

Élisabeth’s strong interests in literature, writing, composition, repertoire research and Tai Chi nurture her musical practice. She now regularly gives Tai Chi workshops to orchestra and audience members alike, following her concerto performances. She is also involved with the International Liberty Association, which aims at promoting the respect of human rights in Iran and the Middle East, particularly these of women and children.

Élisabeth is currently furthering her artistic development with Enrico Pace, Gabriela Montero, and her own brain.