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Véronique Lacroix’s musicianship – and her energetic and daring style – along with the originality of the music programs she creates have placed her in high regard in the Canadian music scene for more than three decades. She is recognized for her ongoing work promoting new generations of composers.
FOUNDER OF ECM+
Determined to share her passion for contemporary music, Véronique Lacroix was in her early twenties when she founded her own orchestra, the Ensemble contemporain de Montréal (ECM+) in 1987 with the mandate to promote young Canadian musical creation. Thanks to her insatiable curiosity and unmistakable flair, Véronique Lacroix discovered several generations of composers and performers, allowing them to make their debuts with ECM+ in front of generous audiences.
Multidisciplinary shows
The trailblazing programming approach that Lacroix integrated from the start into the ECM+’s concerts are at the heart of the orchestra’s mission which is to bring contemporary music to the largest audience possible. Well known for taking innovative multidisciplinary paths, Lacroix’s “Total work of Art” philosophy (Gesamtkuntswerk) creates a multi-sensorial experience that enlightens and deepens the appreciation of new sounds and ideas. The latest show of the kind, L’Outre-rêve, especially left its mark as the culmination of her 35 years of artistic research. “Beyond the aesthetic pursuit, beyond the desire for meaning, beyond communication, this total work of art unveils the quasi-mystical hope that art can do anything, go anywhere and tackle any subject. […] It is clearly a utopia. A marvelous utopia…” Eric Champagne, cettevilleetrange.org.
The Generation Project
In 1994, she created the Ateliers et Concert to offer young composers a platform and a tool for professional and musical education, as well as a window on the musical creation process for the public to witness during workshops. Renamed Generation in 2000 when a cross-Canada tour of 6 to 10 hosted concerts was added, the project revealed dozens of composers and provided them with a unique environment for musical research and exploration involving live experimentation with musicians. Over the course of 18 months, young composers explore their musical voices, be introduced to new music circles, present their work across Canada, and obtain a high-quality recording of their work.
The four participating composers are selected by a jury made up of 8 to 10 Canadian new music experts from all over the country, ensuring a diversity of aesthetics and styles as well as a geographical representation of the candidates. Such a selection process is truly indicative of Véronique Lacroix’s philosophy: to foster difference, to enlighten audiences and to develop national identity around art music. The list of Generation alumni reads like a “Who’s Who” of today’s most accomplished mid-career Canadian composers: Nicole Lizée, Gordon Fitzell, Ana Sokolović, André Ristic, Anthony Tan, Paul Frehner, Sophie Dupuis, Matthew Ricketts and more. During the 25 years of Generation, Véronique Lacroix revealed 65 young Canadian composers in 87 composition workshops and 76 concerts, as part of 11 Cross-Canada tours.
Flute Ensemble and guest artists
As early as 1999, Véronique Lacroix, a flutist herself, started programming concerts built around a flute octet. With this series, she commissioned and premiered 42 Canadian pieces. She also incorporated concerts presenting established guest ensembles from Canada and abroad as well as promising soloists and up-and-coming ensembles for whom she commissioned new works as well, thus allowing new connections between composers and performers.
Over the course of the ECM+ 35 years of activities, Véronique Lacroix has premiered 328 new works, written by 184 Canadian composers, at 250 different workshops and concerts in Canada and internationally. She also conducted her ensemble and renowned soloists on 11 compact discs, including two recordings of Ana Sokolović’s music.
ARTIST, EDUCATOR AND COMMUNICATOR
Véronique Lacroix has an impressive list of achievements. At the age of 18, she was named Conductor for the Orchestre symphonique des jeunes de Chicoutimi. Between 1987 and 1994, she acted as Musical Director for several orchestras: the West Island Youth Orchestra, the Opéra Comique du Québec, the CAMMAC Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Joliette-Lanaudière; and for the Scarborough Philharmonic, in Ontario, from 1994 to 1996.
Recognized for her qualities as an educator and a communicator, Véronique Lacroix has been in charge of the contemporary music performing class at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal since 1995 where she enjoys directing the young virtuosos in inspiring concerts. A great number of her former students are now performing all over the world, thus making Canada shine on international stages. In addition to her work with ECM+ and the Conservatoire, Véronique Lacroix also led the Orford Musique New Music Academy from 2015 to 2021, in partnership with high profile Canadian composers such as Dorothy Chang, Jocelyn Morlock, Ana Sokolović, Nicolas Gilbert, Jean Lesage, Christopher Butterfield and Christos Hatzis.
Véronique Lacroix is regularly invited to participate in panels and speak at conferences as part of national and international activities in the musical field as well as in the performing arts in general and artistic innovation.
GUEST CONDUCTOR
Véronique Lacroix has been invited to serve as guest conductor for various orchestras in Canada and abroad, among which CBC Radio Orchestra (Vancouver), National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, Kiev Camerata Ensemble (Ukraine), Orchestre des Grands Ballets Canadiens in Montreal, SMCQ, Ensemble Barcelona 216 (Spain), Ensemble Arc-en-ciel de Winterthur (Switzerland), Orchestre symphonique du Lac-Saint-Jean, Orchestre symphonique de Laval, Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Saskatoon Symphony, and in 2024, the Edmonton Symphony.
AWARDS AND HONOURS
Véronique Lacroix graduated in 1988 from the Conservatoire de musique du Québec with the highest honours in conducting, flute, chamber music and several composing techniques. Ms. Lacroix has won several awards in conducting competitions, including the first prize from the Domaine Forget (1987), the Jean-Marie Beaudet Award from the Canada Council for the Arts in both 1990 and 1991, and in 1994, the Heinz Unger Award awarded by the Ontario Arts Council. Ms. Lacroix is regularly invited to participate in jurys, and is acting as consultant in Canadian music programming with various organizations, including the Association des orchestres de jeunes du Québec. In 1999, she was awarded a prize in recognition for her exceptional contribution to contemporary music and Quebec musical creation.
Véronique Lacroix and ECM+ won the Opus Prize for the 2002 Musical Event of the Year and the Montreal Arts Council Grand Prize for the Cage en liberté concert and Musi circus, and their contribution to musical creation. Véronique Lacroix also won the Opus Prize 2007 of Artistic Director of the Year. In recognition of her involvement in the creation of numerous Canadian works, she was appointed Ambassador for the Canadian Music Centre and won the Friends of Canadian Music Award 2009, awarded jointly by the Canadian Music Centre and the Canadian League of Composers. In 2024, she was awarded the title of Knight of the Ordre de Montréal, highlighting her outstanding contribution to the city's development and renown.
