Biography - Fred-Demers.com€¦ · Biography – trumpeter ... de Paris, where he presented Herbert L. Clarke’s Technical Studies ... passion for the cornet is infectious, and

www.Fred‐Demers.cominfo@Fred‐Demers.com

(514) 387‐5826

8038 Henri‐Julien Montréal, (Qc) H2R 2B8

Biography–trumpeter

Recognized by his peers as “one of Canada’s leading trumpet and cornet players” (the U.S.‐based International

Trumpet Guild), Frédéric Demers is much in demand as a soloist with a variety of musical ensembles, principally

since the release in 2008 of his solo disc Carnaval et Concertos. His accomplishments include two concertos

premiered in 2013, one of them for six trumpets, one soloist and orchestra, the other for cornet and orchestra.

Chamber music is a passion for Frédéric Demers. In that context he can be discovered in the theatrical concert

that he produced himself, 8 trompettes et 1 piano, a concert with staging by Anne Millaire and in which, apart

from Mr. Demers’s own work, pianist Jacynthe Riverin turns in a sterling performance. Moreover, he founded

the trio Débonnaire, a brass trio dedicated to all styles of classical repertoire. Still as a chamber musician, Mr.

Demers partnered with organist Catherine Todorovski to create an organ‐trumpet duo. And besides being one

of the founding members of the brass quintet Impact, which began life in 1994, in 2007 he joined the dynamic

Magnitude6, a sextet consisting of a brass quintet and drums, and devoted to contemporary music.

As a freelancer, Frédéric Demers has played with almost all the symphony orchestras in Québec, including the

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal and the Orchestre Métropolitain. In 2006 he did a six‐concert tour in

Germany on natural trumpet for the Netherlands Bach Society baroque orchestra.

Always active with the young, Mr. Demers has helped popularize the trumpet across the country. In 2006 he

conceived an innovative multimedia solo concert, The trumpet in all its forms, in which he plays seven different

types of trumpet. In 2007 the concert was adapted as a coproduction with Jeunesses Musicales of Canada to

become The 7 Trumpets of Fred Piston and has been presented close to 400 times before as many as 40,000

youngsters from three to twelve, in a number of Canadian provinces. In 2013, in collaboration with writer‐

director Mario Boivin, Mr. Demers did a new version for soloist and orchestra entitled Fred Piston Symphonizes

with 7 Trumpets. That adaptation has been performed on five occasions, before a total of 4,100 young listeners.

Frédéric Demers obtained his doctorate with honors in cornet performance from the Université de Montréal. He

also earned an Artist Diploma at McGill University as well as a First Prize from the Conservatoire de musique de

Montréal.


(514) 387‐5826


Biography–teacher

Frédéric Demers has taught trumpet and chamber music for a number of years. His pedagogical approach is

at one and the same time stimulating, creative and personalized.

Following a first teaching experience as lecturer in trumpet at the Université de Montréal, Mr. Demers has

since 1999 given private trumpet classes at Collège Notre‐Dame, Collège Jean‐Eudes, Institut Reine‐Marie

and at Collège Regina Assumpta in addition to being regularly invited as a brass specialist to various other

institutions. Since 2007 he has also taught brass and chamber music at the Conservatoire de musique de Val‐

d’Or.

Moreover, since 2006 Mr. Demers has given several lectures on varied subjects, including in connection with

his doctorate in cornet performance at the Université de Montréal, and at the Conservatoire national

supérieur de musique et de danse de Paris, where he presented Herbert L. Clarke’s Technical Studies

method. In addition, he had the opportunity to share with the students in composer Isabelle Panneton’s

Research and Creation course, taught at the Université de Montréal, his efforts in preparing the survey that

constituted the central issue of his doctoral thesis. He has also given lectures on brass as part of Vincent

Verfaille’s organology seminar.

In 2013 he presented two lecture‐workshops to the Fédération des associations musicales éducatives du

Québec, one having to do with the art of teaching brass and the other with the group teaching of brass.

Mr. Demers is regularly called on to judge participants in different competitions. Since 2007, in addition to

judging exams in the conservatory network, he has been a judge at the Festival des harmonies et orchestres

symphoniques du Québec, the Concours solistes et petits ensembles de Victoriaville, the Festival de musique

du Royaume and on two occasions at the Opus awards in the disc of the year category.

Finally, in 2013 he overhauled the trumpet program at UQÀM’s École préparatoire de musique.


(514) 387‐5826


ConcertsReviews

“Frédéric’s passion for the cornet is infectious, and his virtuosity has no equal…”

Wanda Kaluzny

Conductor

____________

“Demers’s work is a tour de force in this spectacular work composed especially for him by Louis Babin.”

“Unveiling his talent by way of six trumpets, [Demers] presents the different personalities of the trumpeter

through the diverse sounds of his instruments.”

“…trumpeter Frédéric Demers, whose energies allowed us to observe the quality and beauty of the

trumpet…masters [the instrument] with remarkable spontaneity and flexibility.”

“Great art in the true sense of the term…”

“...in addition to playing magnificently, [Demers] takes obvious enjoyment in what he does.”

“Not one gesture too many, always precise, acting like the excellent musician he is, with nothing of the diva

about him.”

“Lustily applauded, with good reason, by the crowd when the recital came to an end on another excellent

note.”

“…he is accomplished and rock‐solid as a musician, as a trumpeter, with his six different trumpets, which he

has mastered in a superlative way.”

Laurent Leblond

lebonblanc.overblog.com


(514) 387‐5826


CDReviews

“Frederic Demers is one of Canada’s leading trumpet and cornet players

and this recording is ample evidence of that truth.”

“Demers plays with great finesses and shows that he is not only a

masterful technician but also a musician who plays with wonderful

sensitivity.”

“Demers plays with wit and nostalgic charm.”

“... outstanding performances of the Neruda Concerto in E‐flat...”

“[The Carnival of Venice in Montreal] allowing Demers to show off not

only his cornet virtuosity, but also his superb abilities as jazz soloist.”

International Trumpet Guild

____________

“…the success of this disc rests in the jaw‐dropping technical prowess and exemplary musicianship of soloist

Frédéric Demers.”

“…jazz improvisations by Demers himself, all of which bring the entire program to a rousing and highly

entertaining close.”

“Demers, playing an Eb cornet, dispatches the work with seemingly effortless elegance”

“…all executed by Demers with a breathtaking brilliance that would probably rival that of Clarke himself.”

“It is nonetheless an enjoyable listen.”

“…the dazzling virtuosity and impeccable musicianship of trumpet and cornet soloist Frédéric Demers.”

"This disc is a lot of good fun."

Fanfare Magazine


(514) 387‐5826



(514) 387‐5826



(514) 387‐5826


Documents

Biography - Fred-Demers.com€¦ · Biography – trumpeter ... de Paris, where he presented Herbert L. Clarke’s Technical Studies ... passion for the cornet is infectious, and