Denis Plante & Stéphane Tétreault
Biography Denis Plante & Stéphane Tétreault
Denis Plante
plays the bandoneon, one of the famous double A varieties, the very same as that played by Astor Piazzolla. The demands this instrument presents for composers and performers makes him the essential tango artist in Canada and a unique face in the world of contemporary tango. Plante is an impassioned musician whose vibrant interpretations allure large audiences. The critics agree: “the subtlety of his playing captures the essence of tango” "Sweet, exquisitely agile, the instrument’s latent melancholy cuts to the heart" and “keep everybody one the edge”. Denis Plante enjoys an international reputation and is frequently invited to perform in Canada, the United States and South America.
Denis Plante grew up in a rich musical universe, surrounded by his father’s collection of ancient instruments. As a youth, he accompanied his parents (founders of Ensemble Claude-Gervaise) on their tours across Canada and Europe.
After receiving classical training on the oboe he obtained a degree in Jazz performance and arranging from Concordia University. At the end of its studies, he formed the Tangovivo Quartet, which recorded his first compositions for the bandoneon. He was quickly noticed by Quartango, the award winning Canadian quartet, and he was invited to join them. In 2000, after a tour to Brazil, he recorded his first album with Quartango. This recording won an Opus Prize (world music) and was nominated for a JUNO.
As a soloist with Quartango, he has played with symphony orchestras in Canada, Turkey and the United States, presenting the Argentine tango within a traditional musical framework. He has received several awards and nominations, including an Opus (world music) for "Esprit" and another Opus (best concert) for "Bach to Tango". The four concerts he gave with Quartango and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal resulted in a record audience of more than 60,000 people. As a soloist, he has been invited to collaborate on various musical events and festivals. In particular with Gilles Vigneault for "Au bout de coeur", with Angele Dubeau for "La fête du violon" and Andre Gagnon with whom he recorded "Histoire rêvées" (Felix Award for instrumental album of the year), with Diane Dufresne and Yannick Nézet-Séguin for "Kurtweil" and then Luc Plamondon, André Gagnon and Rene Claude for the CD "Entre le ciel et la terre".
In 2004, Denis Plante founded Flores of Nacar, a label specializing in the production of recordings and events focusing on contemporary tango. He asked Noémi Roots-Gaudreault, the violonist of Quartango, to develop a new repertory of impressionist tango music for bandonion and string quartet. Together, they have recorded two consecutive discs for this instrumentation: "Cantos of bandoneon", an Opus finalist (world music) and "Coffee Tango", released in December.
Stéphane Tétreault
In addition to innumerous awards and honours, Stéphane Tétreault is the recipient of the prestigious 2019 Virginia Parker Prize from the Canada Council for the Arts and was a nominee for the Oscar Morawetz Award for Excellence in Music Performance from the Ontario Arts Council. He is also the laureate of the 2022 Prix Opus for “Performer of the Year”, awarded by the Conseil québécois de la musique and accompanied by a Canada Council grant. In 2018, he received the Maureen Forrester Next Generation Award in recognition of his sensitivities with music, his enviable technique, and his considerable communication skills. In 2015, he was selected as laureate of the Classe d’Excellence de violoncelle Gautier Capuçon from the Fondation Louis Vuitton, and received the Women’s Musical Club of Toronto Career Development Award. Stéphane was the very first recipient of the $50,000 Fernand-Lindsay Career Award as well as the Choquette-Symcox Award laureate in 2013. First Prize winner at the 2007 Standard Life-Montreal Symphony Orchestra Competition, he was named “Révélation” Radio-Canada in classical music, was chosen as Personality of the Week by La Presse newspaper, and awarded the Prix Opus New Artist of the Year.
Chosen as the first ever Soloist-in-Residence of the Orchestre Métropolitain, he performed alongside Yannick Nézet-Séguin during the 2014-2015 season. In 2016, Stéphane made his debut with the Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Nézet-Séguin and performed at the prestigious Gstaad Menuhin Festival in Switzerland. During the 2017-2018 season, he took part in the Orchestre Métropolitain’s first European tour with Maestro Nézet-Séguin and made his debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra.
Stéphane has performed with violinist and conductor Maxim Vengerov and pianists Alexandre Tharaud, Jan Lisiecki, Louis Lortie, Roger Vignoles, Marc-André Hamelin, Charles Richard-Hamelin and John Lenehan and has worked with conductors Michael Tilson Thomas, Paul McCreesh, John Storgårds, Rune Bergmann, Kensho Watanabe and Tung-Chieh Chuang amongst many others. He has participated in a number of masterclasses, notably with cellists Gautier Capuçon and Frans Helmerson.
His debut CD recorded with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra and conductor Fabien Gabel was chosen as “Editor’s Choice” in the March 2013 issue of Gramophone Magazine. His second album with pianist Marie-Ève Scarfone, featuring works from Haydn, Schubert, and Brahms, was chosen as Gramophone Magazine’s “Critic’s Choice 2016” and recognized as one of the best albums of the year. In 2017, Stéphane partnered with harpist Valérie Milot and violinist Antoine Bareil for a third album dedicated to Trios for Violin, Cello and Harp. All three of his albums received nominations at the ADISQ Gala.
Stéphane was a student of the late cellist and conductor Yuli Turovsky for more than 10 years. He holds a master’s degree in Music Performance from the University of Montreal.
Stéphane plays the 1707 “Countess of Stainlein, Ex-Paganini” Stradivarius cello, on generous loan by Mrs. Sophie Desmarais.
