Jean-Claude Picard
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Canadian conductor Jean-Claude Picard is appreciated by audiences, peers, and critics alike for his communicative and engaging musicianship, combining clarity, eloquence of expression, and a strong sense of narrative. Equally at home in the concert hall and ballet, he has held positions including Associate Conductor of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Chief Conductor of Scottish Ballet, and Artistic Director & Principal Conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières.
Recent and upcoming highlights include a third appearance with Symphony Nova Scotia; several returns to Scottish Ballet, including performances on tour in London and Istanbul; his debut in the USA with Cape Symphony; debuts in South Africa with the Johannesburg Philharmonic Orchestra and the KwaZulu-Natal Philharmonic Orchestra. He also returns for a fourth collaboration with the Victoria Symphony, a tenth with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, and a fifth with Canada’s National Arts Centre Orchestra, alongside performances with Birmingham Royal Ballet, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and the Orquesta Solistas de América, among others.
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Picard was also invited to serve on the jury of the 59th Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors in France, one of the leading competitions in the field. He returns for its 60th edition in 2027 as a jury member for the international selection rounds in Berlin, Paris, Seoul, Besançon, and Montreal.
In his native Canada, Jean-Claude has appeared with orchestras and companies from coast to coast, including the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Royal Winnipeg Ballet, National Arts Centre Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Victoria Symphony, Calgary Opera, Montreal Bach Festival Orchestra, I Musici, and the Thirteen Strings Chamber Orchestra.
In Europe, alongside his leadership roles with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Ballet, Jean-Claude has conducted the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Tonhalle-Orchester Zürich, Orquestra Sinfónica do Porto Casa da Música, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Geneva Chamber Orchestra, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Manchester Camerata, and the Leipzig Symphony Orchestra, among others. He has also enjoyed two successful visits to the Edinburgh International Festival with Scottish Ballet, and his commercial recordings and worldwide streams with the company, and the RSNO – featuring works such as Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring – have been warmly received.
His ballet repertoire includes works such as The Rite of Spring, Carmina Burana, Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Giselle, The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, and The Scandal at Mayerling, as well as new creations including Jess and Morgs’ Coppélia and Helen Pickett’s The Crucible.
Jean-Claude is equally at home in contemporary music, having commissioned, premiered, or recorded works by Canadian and British composers such as Dr. Kelly-Marie Murphy, Nicolas Gilbert, Dinuk Wijeratne, Ned Bigham, Peter Salem, Rory Boyle, and Oliver Searle. His collaborations have also brought him to the stage with distinguished artists, among them Nicola Benedetti, Xavier de Maistre, Vilde Frang, Paul Merkelo, Hyunah Yu Brody, Nicky Spence, André Laplante, Jacques Zoon, and Boris Giltburg.
Before fully dedicating himself to conducting, Jean-Claude was an active flutist, performing with orchestras such as the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra (Norway), Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre de Chambre de Genève, Orchestre Métropolitain de Montréal, and Les Violons du Roy. It allowed him to acquire a wealth of experience as an orchestral musician, performing in world-renowned venues such as Carnegie Hall in New York and the Royal Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, among others.
He holds several master’s degrees from the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Genève (Haute École de Musique) where he studied conducting with Laurent Gay and flute with Michel Bellavance and Jacques Zoon. Additionally, he earned degrees from the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec à Montréal, studying flute with Carolyn Christie and Marie-Andrée Benny. He was also awarded a Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy Scholarship from Maestro Kurt Masur, enabling him to pursue private studies with the illustrious conductor.
Jean-Claude is always eager to share his knowledge through teaching. He has served as a Visiting Artist – Guest Lecturer in Conducting at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. Additionally, Jean-Claude has taught flute at the Geneva Conservatory of Music. He is an appreciated adjudicator and panelist, having worked with institutions in Scotland and Switzerland, and most recently with the Besançon International Competition for Young Conductors and the Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden.