Fred Pellerin’s Traditional Holiday Tale  ^2025-2026

A graduate in literature from the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and the son of a chartered accountant, he became a “pleasant storyteller by accident” after being lulled to sleep by the stories of his grandmother, his neighbour, Eugène, and his father.

Fred Pellerin’s stories are those of his village: Saint-Élie-de-Caxton, a small Quebec village in the Mauricie region “where leprechauns and fairies crash into windscreens at night”. Anecdotes, gossip and rumours are all put through the mill by Fred Pellerin to come out in the form of tales for adults.

Fred Pellerin has performed over 3,300 times in French-speaking countries around the world, and has already put on 7 storytelling shows, each featuring a famous character from his own village. His most recent are Un village en trois dés (2017) and La descente aux affaires (2023).

In addition to five original collaborations with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, he has scripted three of his stories for the cinema: Babine, released in 2008, Ésimésac (2012) and L’Arracheuse de Temps (2021).

A storyteller as well as a singer, he has sold nearly 400,000 solo albums since 2009 and won numerous Félix awards with each release.

Actor, director, playwright, filmmaker, and host, René Richard Cyr is a Knight of the National Order of Quebec, a Companion of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, and an Officer of the Ordre de Montréal.He is credited with nearly a hundred theatrical productions, including works by Molière, Shakespeare, Chekhov, Camus, Genet, and Ionesco, as well as original creations by Michel Tremblay, Serge Boucher, and others. In addition to numerous artistic directions—namely alongside Fred Pellerin, Diane Dufresne, and Céline Dion—he co-wrote and directed Zumanity, the erotic cabaret by Cirque du Soleil, with Dominic Champagne, which ran for sixteen years in Las Vegas. He also directed operas such as The Turn of the Screw by Britten, Don Giovanni by Mozart, and Macbeth by Verdi, presented in Montreal, Melbourne, and Sydney.

As an actor, his portrayal of Hosanna in Michel Tremblay’s eponymous play earned him two acting awards. He has also appeared in various series including Yamaska, Cover Girl, C’est comme ça que je t’aime, for which he received Gémeaux Award nominations, as well as Fragments. On the big screen, he appeared in Ésimésac, Babine, and Testament. After adapting and directing Belles-sœurs, the musical theatre piece he created with Michel Tremblay and Daniel Bélanger, he also directed its film version, which won the Golden Screen Award for the most popular film at the 2025 Canadian Screen Awards.

Kent Nagano is considered one of today’s outstanding conductors for both operatic and orchestral repertoire. He will be the next Chief conductor and Artistic Director of the Orquesta y Coro Nacionales de España (OCNE) in Madrid starting in September 2026 and is the newly appointed Principal Artistic Partner of Filarmonica Toscanini. In addition, he is committed together with Jan Vogler as Artistic Director of the Ring project “The Wagner Cycles” of Dresdner Musikfestspiele with Dresdner Festspielorchester and Concerto Köln alongside Jan Vogler. He has been Honorary Conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin since 2006, Concerto Köln since 2019, the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since 2021 and the Philharmonisches Staatsorchester Hamburg since 2023 and is as patron of the Herrenchiemsee Festival.

As a much sought-after guest conductor, Kent Nagano regularly works with leading international orchestras worldwide, 2025/26 season highlights include several projects with the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra, Maggio Musicale, the Tonhalle Orchestra Zurich, Opera de Paris, and the Philharmonia Orchestra, amongst others.