A recipient of
several awards and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Dutch
Government University Association and the Quebec Government,
Francis Colpron
studied at the Utrecht Conservatory in the Netherlands where he followed the
teachings of such prominent masters as Marion Verbrüggen, Heiko ter Schegget
(recorder) and Marten Root (traverso).
Already at a very early age, he played within the Ensemble de flûtes à bec
de Châteauguay and toured with the group both in Canada and Europe. Later
on, he perfected his skills at Laval University in Quebec City.
His solo performances were highly praised in such contexts as the Ultrecht
Early Music Festival in the Netherlands in 1987 and 1988, La Compagnie
inégale (Helsinki) for a series of concerts in Finland in 1989 and the
Bruges Festival Musica Antiqua in Belgium, where his performance made him
reach the finals with distinction.
As a chamber musician, Francis Colpron has been asked to perform with Les
Agrémens with whom he went back to the Festival Musica Antiqua in Bruges in
1993 and was awarded a third prize. He has since then founded and directed
his own ensemble, Les Boréades de Montréal, running a successful series in
Montreal, touring in North America and Europe and recording several discs on
the ATMA label.
Besides teaching at the Université de Montréal, he is a regular guest of
prestigious summer camps such as Amherst in the United States as well as
Cammac and Lanaudière in Québec. He is also a regular guest of other
ensembles such as the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, the National
Arts Centre Orchestra, Tafelmusik, Opera Atelier, Arcadia, Les Violons du
Roy and the Nova Scotia Orchestra.