Bernard Labadie has established himself worldwide as one of the preeminent conductors of the Baroque and Classical repertoire, a reputation closely tied to his work with Les Violons du Roy (for which he served as Music Director from its inception until 2014) and La Chapelle de Québec. With these two ensembles he has regularly toured Canada, the US and Europe, in major venues and festivals such as Carnegie Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Kennedy Center, The Barbican, The Concertgebouw, and the Salzburg Festival, among others. He is the Principal Conductor of the Orchestra of St. Luke’s in New York.
Recent guest conducting highlights include the Chicago Symphony, Cleveland Orchestra, Handel & Haydn Society, National Arts Center Orchestra, L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Orchestre Philharmonique de Monte-Carlo, Orchestre National de Lyon, Mozarteum Orchestra Salzburg, and NDR Radiophilharmonie.
Since his triumphant debut with the Minnesota Orchestra, Mr. Labadie has become a regular presence on the podiums of the major North American orchestras, including the Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Pittsburgh, New World and San Francisco symphonies; the Cleveland and Philadelphia orchestras; the Los Angeles and New York philharmonics; the Handel & Haydn Society; and L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal.
International audiences in past seasons have seen and heard Maestro Labadie conduct the Bayerischen Rundfunks Symphony Orchestra, Academy of Ancient Music, English Concert & Chorus, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, BBC Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Kammerakademie Potsdam, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Collegium Vocale Ghent, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, Royal Northern Sinfonia, Swedish Chamber Orchestra, WDR Sinfonieorchester (Cologne), and Zurich Chamber Orchestra.
On the opera podium, Maestro Labadie has served tenures as artistic director of L’Opéra de Québec and L’Opéra de Montréal. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut with Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, a work which he also led at the Cincinnati Opera. Other operatic highlights include Handel’s Orlando with Glimmerglass Opera, Mozart’s Così fan tutte at the Mostly Mozart Festival, Mozart’s Lucio Silla with Santa Fe Opera, and concert versions of Handel’s Theodora and Samson. In 2017 he made his long-awaited debut with the Canadian Opera Company, conducting Die Zauberflöte.
Bernard Labadie’s extensive discography includes many critically acclaimed recordings on Dorian, ATMA and Virgin Classics labels, including Handel’s Apollo e Dafne and a collaborative recording of Mozart’s Requiem with Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Québec, both of which received Canada’s Juno Award. Other recordings include C.P.E. Bach’s complete cello concertos with Truls Mørk and Les Violons du Roy; J.S. Bach’s complete piano concertos with Alexandre Tharaud, both on Virgin Classics; and Haydn’s piano concertos with Marc-Andre Hamelin as soloist, released by Hyperion.
In 2016, Bernard Labadie received the Samuel de Champlain award in Paris. The Canadian government appointed him as an “Officer of the Order of Canada” in 2005, and his home province named him a “Chevalier de l’Ordre National du Québec” in 2006.
