Mozart and the Clarinet ^2024-2025

Todd Cope was appointed Principal Clarinet of the OSM in 2013. He was previously a member of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and a member of the New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. In addition, he has performed with the Sun Valley Summer Symphony and Grand Teton Music Festival Orchestra, the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, and has held fellowships at the Aspen and Eastern music festivals, the National Repertory Orchestra, the Music Academy of the West, and the American Institute of Music Studies in Graz, Austria. He graduated from the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati where he studied with Richie Hawley. Todd Cope also completed a professional studies certificate at the Colburn School, where he was a student of Yehuda Gilad. He is currently on the faculty at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, and is an exclusive performing artist for Buffet Crampon.

Andrew Wan was named Concertmaster of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal in 2008. As a soloist, he has performed throughout the world under the direction of such conductors as Vengerov, Petrenko, Labadie, Rizzi, Oundjian, Stern, and DePreist, among others, and has given chamber music concerts with many artists, including the Juilliard String Quartet, Repin, Hamelin, Trifonov, Pressler, Widmann, Ax, Ehnes, and Shaham. He has served as guest concertmaster of the Pittsburgh, Houston, Toronto, National Arts Centre and Indianapolis Symphonies. His recordings with Kent Nagano and the OSM, Charles Richard-Hamelin, James Ehnes and the Seattle Chamber Music Society, the Metropolis Ensemble, and the New Orford String Quartet have received a GRAMMY nomination, two Juno Awards, and multiple Felix and Opus Awards. Mr. Wan holds three degrees from the Juilliard School and is currently Assistant Professor of Violin at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, and Artistic Director of Les Solistes de l’OSM. He plays a Michel’Angelo Bergonzi violin (1744), on generous loan from the David Sela collection, for which he extends his warmest thanks. He also performs on an 1860 Dominique Peccatte bow, graciously loaned by Canimex.

Alexander Read had the privilege of being introduced to music by his parents, who have always greatly encouraged him. Music was a strong presence at home: he remembers hearing the OSM and recognizing its highly distinctive sound on radio broadcasts. Alexander studied the violin with Ani Kavafian and Robert Mealy at the Yale School of Music, with Thomas Williams and Denise Lupien at McGill University, as well as with Sharon Jones on a private basis. His favourite musical memory is his first experience as an ensemble player, at 15, when he performed with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada. His first rehearsal with them confirmed that music would become an integral part of his life. Alexander Read serves as a frequent guest Concertmaster with Les Violons du Roy, Ensemble Caprice and the Bach Festival Orchestra. He loves playing on period or rare instruments such as the violin d’amore.

The versatile violinist and violist Victor Fournelle-Blain leads an active career as a soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player. Associate Principal Viola of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, he also teaches viola at McGill University and orchestral studies at Université de Montréal. After studying violin at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal under Johanne Arel, he went on to work with Ani Kavafian at the Yale School of Music, and subsequently joined the class of André Roy as a viola student at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University. Winner of McGill’s 2014 Golden Violin Award, the 2012 Prix d’Europe, and Second Prize winner of the 2010 OSM Competition, Victor Fournelle-Blain has performed as a guest soloist with various orchestras including the Orchestre Métropolitain and the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil. As violinist of the Grand-Duc Trio, he regularly collaborates with renowned musicians including Charles Richard-Hamelin, Andrew Wan and Brian Manker. Victor Fournelle-Blain currently plays a violin by Carlo Tononi and a viola by Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, both generously loaned to him by Canimex.

Principal Cello of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 1999, Brian Manker leads a diverse musical career as a performer and pedagogue. Besides giving frequent solo concerto performances with the OSM, Mr. Manker is a member of the Opus and Juno Award-winning New Orford String Quartet. Currently a Professor at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, Brian launched the Beethoven Project and founded the Adorno Quartet in 2007, whose objective is to perform all Beethoven’s quartets in their original setting: a private salon. In 2010, he made a recording of the complete Cello Suites of J. S. Bach.
Brian Manker plays a cello built in Venice c. 1728–1730 by Pietro Guarneri with a bow crafted c. 1850 by Joseph René Lafleur, generously loaned to him by Canimex.