Instrument: viola
Montreal native François Vallières began playing violin at the age of six. Following his studies in high school at École Pierre-Laporte, he was admitted into Sonia Jelínková’s class at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Montréal, later studying viola with Robert Verebes and André Roy. He graduated from the Conservatoire with Great Distinction in 2002. The following year, he settled in the United States to further his studies with renowned chamber musician and teacher James Dunham at Rice University in Houston. Through a full scholarship granted by the University, he obtained his Master of Music degree. In addition to being a versatile chamber musician, François Vallières is a member, as well as the music librarian and production director of the McGill Chamber Orchestra, and a musician with the Chorum en semble. He also regularly appears with a number of other ensembles, such as Les Violons du Roy, the Orchestre Métropolitain, Appassionata, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne, and the Montreal, Quebec, and Trois-Rivières symphony orchestras.