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.

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.

Theodore Baskin’s masterful and unique approach to musical interpretation and expression through the oboe has been an inspiration to audiences worldwide. As Principal Oboist of l’OSM, he has been featured soloist on several international tours. Heard in over 80 recordings, Mr. Baskin, together with his wind colleagues at l’OSM, has left a signature on much of the symphonic repertoire. He has performed and taught at numerous festivals in North America including Orford Music, Grand Teton, Mostly Mozart Festival with the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, and Marlboro Festival. Solo and chamber music recordings include four Vivaldi Concerti for Chandos Records and several wind chamber music recordings for ATMA Classique. Mr. Baskin is Associate Professor of Oboe at McGill Schulich School of Music. He was appointed Professor of Music at Indiana University from 2000-2002, and has coached woodwind chamber music workshops at Orford Music for several summers.

Born in Montreal, Stéphane Lévesque has held the position of Principal Bassoon with the OSM since 1998. He has also held principal positions with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Saito Kinen Orchestra in Japan. Mr. Lévesque has appeared as a soloist on several occasions with the OSM as well as with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the New World Symphony, Les Violons du Roy, and the U.S. Army Orchestra. He has given master classes in numerous institutions throughout the world, including the Curtis Institute, the National School of Music in Mexico City, the Conservatoriums in Adelaide and Sydney in Australia, and the Conservatoire supérieur de musique de Lyon. Stéphane Lévesque graduated from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and obtained a master’s degree from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Stephen Maxym and Frank Morelli.

Rafael Payare’s prodigious musicianship, technical brilliance and charismatic presence on the podium have made him one of the world’s most sought-after conductors. Born in 1980 and a graduate of the celebrated El Sistema music education program in Venezuela, Mr. Payare began his formal conducting studies in 2004 with José Antonio Abreu. Since winning the prestigious Malko International Competition for Young Conductors in Denmark in 2012, Maestro Payare’s career has advanced rapidly. Since 2015, he has served as Principal Conductor of the Castleton Festival, founded by his mentor the late Lorin Maazel. He was Chief Conductor of the Uster Orchestra from 2014 to 2019 and in 2019, took up the position of Music Director of the San Diego Symphony. In recent years, Rafael Payare has conducted many of the world’s most prestigious symphony orchestras, in Berlin, Vienna, London, Munich, Chicago and Paris, among others. Beginning in the 2022-2023 season, he becomes the ninth Music Director in the history of the OSM.