Jean-Sébastien Roy began playing the violin in early childhood. He studied under Johanne Arel and Denise Lupien in Montreal, Paul Kantor in Cleveland and Rodney Friend in London. His fondest musical memory is of playing chamber music with Ida Haendel! His first performance with the OSM was at the tender age of 15, during a Youth Matinee concert. Since then, his career has taken him around the world, as concertmaster both with the Columbus Symphony and the McGill Chamber Orchestra, and of course, back again as a musician of the OSM!
First violins - 1st Assistant
Jean-Sébastien Roy
Model of instrument: Carlo Antonio Testore (Milan) violin built in 1743, Jacob Eury (Paris) bow crafted in 1830
Hometown: Joliette
Academic institution(s) attended: Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Cleveland Institute of Music, McGill University
Musical first love: Le nozze di Figaro, Mozart
Prizes and scholarships: Winner of the 2004 OSM Competition, 2006 Prix d’Europe, Joseph Rouleau Prize at the Montreal International Musical Competition in 2003 and 2006, Canada Council for the Arts’ 2006 Instrument Bank Competition
Favourite composers: Schubert
Favourite works: The Song of the Earth, Mahler, Der Rosenkavalier, Richard Strauss
Other interests: Wine, painting, literature
If you could play another instrument, you would choose …: French horn
If you hadn’t chosen to become a musician, you would be …: A psychiatrist or oenologist