VC ARTIST

Winner of the 2024 Joseph Joachim International Competition, 20-year-old VC Artist and Violinist Jacques Forestier began playing the violin at the age of two and has performed across North America, Europe, and Asia. Hailed by CBC Music as one of the “Top 30 Hot Canadian Classical Musicians Under 30,” Jacques has performed with the Edmonton Symphony, NDR Radiophilharmonie, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Western Michigan Symphony, among others, and looks forward to appearing in the coming seasons with the Dresden, Bremen, and Duisburg philharmonics, the Potsdam & Württembergisches chamber orchestras, the NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra, Staatskapelle Karlsruhe, reappearing with the NDR Radiophilharmonie, as well as performing at chamber music and concert venues across Europe such as the Cologne Philharmonie among others.

Jacques made his début at the age of 11 with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the Winspear Centre and has since been re-invited regularly as a soloist.

In addition to winning the 1st Prize, laureate prize, and audience prize at the 2024 Joseph Joachim International Competition in Hannover, Germany, the Warner Classics Label will be working with Jacques to produce and promote his début album.

A recipient of the Thomas. D Watkins Fellowship at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Jacques is a student of Shmuel Ashkenasi and Pamela Frank. He is the laureate of several international competitions including the Stulberg, Klein, Johansen, OSM Manulife, and Shean competitions.

Jacques is grateful for the support of many and would like to thank the Edmonton Community Foundation and the Anne Burrows Foundation for their generosity in supporting his growth as a musician.

Jacques plays on a G.B. Guadagnini (c. 1765 Parma) violin on generous loan by the Fritz Behrens Foundation.