JULIEN LEBLANC a virtuoso whose enthusiasm is genuinely contagious, Canadian pianist he is renowned for his great musical sensibility and his talent as a communicator. A well sought-after soloist, chamber player and accompanist. In 2002, Julien was awarded the Prize for Emerging Artist of the Year by the New Brunswick Foundation for the Arts. Since his debut solo recital at the National Art Centre in 2003, he has been touring for Atlantic Debut and Jeunesses Musicales du Canada with violinist Marc Djokic all over Canada. Mr. LeBlanc has appeared as a guest soloist with Atlantic Sinfonia as well as with the Saint-John String Quartet. His performances are frequently broadcasted on Espace Musique and CBC. The Canada Council for the Arts and ArtNB have supported him with several grants and scholarships. Julien has recently appeared as a guest pianist and collaborative artist at numerous Canadian music festivals including the Indian River Festival, the Elora Festival, Music and Beyond in Ottawa, the New Brunswick Summer Music Festival, Festivoix in Trois-Rivières, Étés Musicaux de l’Église Historique de Barachois, Festival de Musique de Chambre de la Baie-des-Chaleurs and Festival de Musique de Lachine. He was also a guest artist for Opera Saskatoon’s 2010-2011 season and performed the show “Rogues, Rascals and Rapscallions” with baritone Peter McGillivray.
LeBlanc is founder and member of Trio Arkaède with flutist Karin Aurell and violinist Isabelle Fournier. They released their first album in 2008 and have recently performed a series of recitals with soprano Nathalie Paulin. . He was Artist in Residence at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton from 2005 until 2009. He has been on faculty as a vocal coach at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto as well as at Université de Montréal, and taught piano at Université de Moncton. He has given master classes at the universities of Saskatchewan, New Brunswick and Prince-Edward-Island as well as at Memorial (Newfoundland) and Dalhousie (Halifax) Universities. He was an adjudicator at the Sackville Music Festival as well as at the New Brunswick Competitive Music Festival in Saint-John. Julien LeBlanc holds a post-graduate Diploma in Accompaniment from the Royal Academy of Music (London, UK) where he studied with Malcolm Martineau, a Doctorate in piano performance from Université de Montréal under Paul Stewart and Marc Durand as well as an Artist Diploma from the Glenn Gould School (Toronto, ON) where he studied with André Laplante. Julien has participated in many masterclasses in Europe, the United States and Canada working with Leon Fleisher, Dalton Baldwin, John Perry, Warren Jones, Menahem Pressler, Rudolph Jansen, Thomas Allen and Roger Vignoles. Website: www.julienleblanc.com
Marc Djokic critically acclaimed violinist Marc Djokic is one of Canada’s most engaging concert musicians. He has performed across Canada and the U.S. as a soloist and a collaborative musician and has been praised for his dynamic and exciting performance style. Marc currently resides in Montreal where he was a winner of an Opus Prix and has established himself as a performing artist of critical acclaim “spot-on accuracy”;… “violin playing of a high level” – La Presse.
Marc performs frequently as guest soloist with orchestra, having enjoyed playing with many Canadian orchestras such as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, The National Arts center Orchestra, Ottawa Chamber Orchestra, Symphony New Brunswick, and the Niagara Symphony Orchestra.
Marc’s strong collaborations include: Violin/Piano Duo with Julien Leblanc – together the duo has toured Canada several times. They have performed throughout the Atlantic Provinces, British Columbia, and Quebec to critical acclaim: “..Vigorous Virtuosity!” – The Telegram. Another high energy duo is with acclaimed marimbist Anne-Julie Caron, a collaboration which has seen them invited annually to summer festivals and broadcasted on CBC radio and CBC Television. Marc is also part of the Morpheus Ensemble, a quartet which has enjoyed being the ensemble-in-residence at La Chapelle du bon pasteur historique in Montreal since 2010.
Marc performs annually in numerous chamber music festivals across North America including Park City Chamber Music Festival in Utah, the Ottawa Chamber Music Festival, Music and Beyond Festival, Montreal Chamber Music Festival and many others.
Marc Djokic has received numerous awards and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and gratefully acknowledges their support throughout his career. Marc performs on violins by Carl Becker 1927 and a rare Guarnerius from 1740
Website: www.marcdjokic.com
To listen to Julien and Marc perform a selection of John Corigliano Sonata Allegro