Dominique Bellon is an oboist, professor and specialist in performance psychology who divides her time between Saint-Donat-de-Montcalm, Montreal and Richmond, Kentucky. Her love for collaborating with musicians from everywhere has led her to perform regularly in the US, Mexico, and Canada. She co-directs and performs in Bach to Now, a chamber music concert series in Lexington KY that focuses on music for voice and instruments from the Baroque period to the present. In 2023, she performed several concerts in Guanajuato, Mexico, including performances with Ensamble Pegasus and Confluencias musicales. In 2021, her trio, Favonian Winds, was a finalist for the American Prize in Chamber Music. She is a member of the Lexington Chamber Orchestra and has held positions with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra as well as the Orquesta sinfonica de Guanajuato. Ms. Bellon also plays in several musical ensembles in Quebec.
Dominique Bellon’s love of Saint-Donat and her desire to encourage the development of a musical community in the region led her to create MusiNature Saint-Donat. She also wanted to share the skills she has developed over the years. Dominique has been a professor at Eastern Kentucky University for the last ten years, but since the pandemic she has been teaching entirely online. Her current appointment involves coordinating courses in music history and literature that are designed mainly as enrichment courses for the university's general education curriculum. Dominique has also taught at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory in Toronto and at the University of Ottawa. Her doctoral research on the application sports psychology to music performance has led her to give lectures on this subject at several Canadian and American universities as well as for professional organizations. She holds a doctorate in performance (oboe) from Arizona State University, a master's degree from the Cincinnati Conservatory, and a bachelor's degree with honours in composition from McGill University.
(English bio coming soon) Formé en écriture et en direction d’orchestre et de chœur au Conservatoire de Québec et à l’Université de Montréal, Frédéric Vogel est associé depuis plus de 35 ans au domaine du chant choral en tant que chef, arrangeur-compositeur, concepteur et choriste professionnel.
Curieux de toutes les musiques, sa vaste connaissance du répertoire choral lui permet d’aborder une variété de répertoires, du sacré au profane, du folklore au Jazz et du classique au populaire. Sa maîtrise des différents genres musicaux lui confère une expertise prisée des metteurs en scène de toutes disciplines – musiques de scène, variété, radio et télévision, concerts classiques... C'est ainsi qu'il s'est vu confier la direction des choeurs pour les éditions 2022 et 2023 du spectacle Parapapam.
Frédéric a fondé plusieurs ensembles, dont le chœur de la radio de Radio-Canada, la Boîte vocale, l’Ensemble vocal Florilège et, en 2002, l’Ensemble vocal Carpe Diem. Outre Carpe Diem, il dirige également le Chœur en Fugue de Châteauguay, l'Ensemble vocal Katimavik et le Chœur SARA.
Juan Sebastian Delgado (English bio coming soon)
Originally from Montreal, Susanne Murphy grew up in a bilingual family environment. She has been teaching piano for 30 years to students of all ages and levels. She has worked with hundred students over the years, first at her studio in Montreal, then in London, Ontario where she currently lives. She is also active as an accompanist for both professional musicians and music students at the University of Western Ontario. Susanne holds a bachelor's degree in performance (piano) from McGill University and a master's degree in collaborative piano from the University of Western Ontario. Her desire to always learn and evolve led her to complete the ARCT certificate in performance at the Royal Conservatory of Music in 2020. She is currently working towards a certificate in elementary piano pedagogy. Susanne is currently serving as a member of the Executive Committee of the London area chapter of the Ontario Music Teachers Association.
She has always been fascinated by the unifying power of music. Following her bachelor's degree in performance from McGill University, she went to study music therapy at Hahnemann University in Philadelphia. Additionally, she worked for a decade in several Montreal hospitals with geriatric patients, as well as with patients receiving pulmonary and palliative care.
At her home in London, Ontario where she lives with her husband and their children, music is part of everyday life (there always seems to be a spontaneous jam session happening) Susanne is very eager to come to Saint-Donat to participate in the MusiNature 2024 camp as a piano teacher.
Thomas Couvillon is a composer and university professor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. His Acadian last name is a transformation of “Quévillon” As a composer, Thomas Couvillon likes to work collaboratively with performers. Whether in the United States, Mexico or Quebec, many of his works are written for particular performers or ensembles. He also specializes in the composition of chamber music works. Thomas has composed works for large ensemble. Recently, his piece Rivers, Mountains, Dreams, commissioned by the Eastern Kentucky University band, was performed at the Peabody Conservatory (Baltimore).
In the past two years, Thomas has had commissioned works performed at the American String Teachers Association conference (Louisville, Kentucky), the International Double Reed Society conference (Boulder, Colorado), and two chamber music concerts “Confluencias Musicales” in Guanajuato, Mexico.
Thomas is currently Professor of Theory and Composition at Eastern Kentucky University. His deep attachment to Quebec leads him to spend several months a year in Saint-Donat. His compositions are often influenced by the natural beauty of the region. One of his recent pieces, “Rivière du Diable,” commissioned by the Lexington Chamber Orchestra, is inspired by the course of the Diable River which has its source in an isolated and inaccessible lake north of Mont Tremblant Park.
Thomas is excited to participate in the creation of MusiNature Saint-Donat and to teach there this summer. He is also looking forward to contributing to the 150th anniversary of Saint-Donat by composing a piece for his orchestra which will be performed next August.
Alexandre Sylvestre is currently completing a bachelor's degree in violin performance at the University of Ottawa. As an "intern" or "coach" Alexandre will provide support by playing with MusiNature ensembles that need an excellent violinist to complete the group (string quartet, piano trio, string orchestra, etc.)
(English bio coming soon) C’est sous le charme de la vibrante ville de Montréal que s’est formé le duo Stick&Bow, par la rencontre entre deux jeunes musiciens passionnés, énergiques et complémentaires. Tous deux issus d’une formation classique, la Canadienne Krystina Marcoux et l’Argentin Juan Sebastian Delgado s’unissent pour pouvoir présenter un large éventail de styles musicaux, allant du rock au jazz manouche ou du baroque au tango. Par le biais d’arrangements originaux, leur répertoire éclectique présente certaines des œuvres les plus célébrées de l’histoire, tout en transformant leur écoute par la combinaison originale entre marimba & violoncelle. Stick&Bow défend fermement la musique d’aujourd’hui et enrichit le répertoire de leur formation inusitée par le biais de la commande de nouvelles œuvres. Il souhaite présenter des créations audacieuses et accessibles grâce à l’écriture de compositeurs tels que Luis Naon, Camille Pépin, Luna Pearl Woolf, Jason Noble & Marcelo Nisinman.
Stick&Bow s’est démarqué en 2024 en étant lauréat de deux prix OPUS. C’est deux prix spéciaux consécutifs que Krystina et Juan Sebastian ont remportés, soit celui de Rayonnement à l'étranger présenté par CINARS ainsi que le Prix Interprète de l'Année présenté par le Conseil des Arts du Canada. Les arrangements qu’ils ont faits eux-mêmes et les commandes d’œuvres de plusieurs compositeurs les a amenés à jouer dans les festivals musicaux les plus prestigieux incluant le festival Bach de Montréal, le festival de Lanaudière, le festival Classica, le Centre national des arts pour leur #Canadaperforms, la salle Bourgie, la virée classique pour en nommer quelques-uns. Stick and Bow a également collaboré avec Pierre Lapointe en arrangeant sa pièce « Pour déjouer l’ennui. »
À l’étranger, Stick&Bow a fait un tournée en France de 40 concerts en 2022-23 en tant qu’ « artiste émergeant » pour les Jeunesses Musicales. Ils ont également donné une série de concerts en Colombie en 2023 et en Argentine en 2022. De plus, l’ensemble a enregistré trois albums sur étiquette Analakta/Outhere à l’intérieur de trois ans; Resonance music pour violoncelle et marimba (2019), Sonates en trio de Bach avec l’expert en musique baroque, Luc Beauséjour (2021) et Veni, Vola, Veni (2022) avec le fameux pianiste, Gustavo Beytelmann (ancient pianiste d’Astor Piazzolla) qui met en vedette la musique de Piazzolla et Beytelmann.