Yves-G. Préfontaine

Yves-G. Préfontaine is a graduate of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, where he studied organ and harpsichord, first with Bernard and  Mireille Lagacé, and then with Scott Ross. He was awarded first prizes in each of these instruments. He continued his harpsichord studies with Gustav Leonhardt in Amsterdam and, as a soloist and a chamber musician, has played for most organizations devoted to organ recitals. After some time working as a researcher and host for the classical music broadcasts of Radio-Canada and Radio-Cité, he founded the music department at CEGEP Marie-Victorin, and directed this department for ten years. He is titular organist at both the Grand seminaire de Montréal and the Sanctuaire Marie-Reine-des-Coeurs in Montreal.  His most important achievements include a series of 12 recitals in which he played the complete keyboard works of François Couperin. As well, he has performed the complete works of Jean-Philippe Rameau and of Jean-François d’Anglebert, and the major works of Johann Jacob Froberger. Since 1995, he has been artistic director of Le Festival des Couleurs de l’Orgue français, which takes place every fall at le Grand Séminaire de Montréal. In recent years, he has been on the board of Laudem, Le Clavier d’Autrefois, and Les Amis de l’Orgue de Montréal. With a French colleague, he runs Orgues et Cimes, an organ academy organized in Switzerland every summer.