For the third time this year, Jean-Claude is delighted by the invitation to guest conduct another well-established orchestra as a music director candidate, following an extensive search process involving a substantial number of applicants. Further details will be shared in due course.
Ahead of joining the dynamic Cape Symphony team this September as a guest conductor and Music Director candidate, Jean-Claude was delighted to share a few thoughts with Concertmaster Jae Cosmos Lee. The full interview is available here.
Jean-Claude obtained enthusiastic reviews for conducting Orff’s Carmina Burana with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in April 2024:
“You don’t get the impression that you’re just watching a dance event. Often, even, the eyes are drawn offstage: the impressive conductor Jean-Claude Picard delivers a captivating performance. The choirs on both sides of Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier elevate the already monumental music, the soloists perform flawlessly. The intensity of the encounter between the three ensembles is undeniable.” – Sors-tu?
“Canadian conductor Jean-Claude Picard gives it his all in this rendition of Carmina Burana. The result of the collaboration between the expressionist choreography, the well-directed orchestra, the sublime chorus and solo singers, and a simple but effective set has brought the audience an hour-long work of choral and orchestral genius. The voices of Aline Kutan, Dominique Côté and the young Filipino-Canadian tenor Mishael Eusebio are remarkable.” – Arts et Culture
Jean-Claude is delighted to be invited to guest conduct the Cape Symphony as a candidate for its sought-after Music Director position, following a thorough search process that involved over 200 candidates. As such, he will be opening the orchestra’s 62nd season in September 2024, conducting a dynamic program featuring works by Adams, Frank, Strauss, and Mussorgsky/Ravel. A vibrant organization situated on beautiful Cape Cod in the USA, Cape Symphony is the second largest professional orchestra in Massachusetts, following the Boston Symphony Orchestra.
Jean-Claude is delighted to join the faculty of the Quebec Conservatory of Music as Professor of Conducting. Chosen unanimously by a 12-member selection committee, Jean-Claude will also assume the music direction of the Conservatoire’s Symphony Orchestra.
After thorough and competitive searches involving a substantial number of applicants, Jean-Claude has been invited to guest conduct two orchestras based in the USA as a candidate for their highly sought-after music director positions. Further details will follow.
A valued collaborator with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Jean-Claude is looking forward to his return to the Company for two upcoming engagements. Firstly, he will be conducting a program showcasing Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana“, choreographed by Edward Clug. Subsequently, he will conduct the beloved classic “Giselle” by Adolphe Adam, featuring choreography by Ivan Cavallari based on Marius Petipa‘s original work.
Jean-Claude enjoyed a successful 4th visit to the Victoria Symphony last 1st of October, this time stepping in at short notice. The program included Ravel’s “Le Tombeau de Couperin”, Nielsen’s Flute Concerto with soloist Arin Sarkissian, and Haydn’s 85th Symphony “La Reine”.
Following Jean-Claude’s last concert at the helm of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, Le Nouvelliste wrote, in reaction to their interpretation of Nielsen’s Symphony No. 2:
“Under the spirited direction of Jean-Claude Picard, the OSTR navigated into the human soul with fervor and ease. The conductor seemed to take a keen pleasure in making the orchestra disappear at the end of some chapters in pianissimos that betrayed only but the most imperceptible vibrations in the air. A few moments later, to mark the accents of anger intended by Nielsen, the maestro gave the impression that his feet were losing contact with the ground. The orchestra reciprocated straight away.” – March 2023
Jean-Claude is delighted to be appointed Visiting Artist – Guest Lecturer in Conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland for the 2022-2023 academic year.
