Olivier Fortin
Harpsichordist and organist Olivier Fortin has had a strong impact on the North American early music scene, both as a soloist and as director of Ensemble Masques. He is also a noted educator in both Quebec and Europe.
Fortin was born in Quebec City, Quebec, on October 29, 1973. His father, a mathematician, introduced him to the harpsichord, and beginning at age eight, he studied with University of Laval professor Scott Ross. At ten, he entered the Conservatoire de musique de Québec, studying with Anatole Gagnon and continuing at the institution through his undergraduate years. He graduated with distinction in 1995. After further studies on the organ with Dom André Laberge and at the University of Montreal with Réjean Poirier, Fortin traveled to Europe on a scholarship for lessons with Pierre Hantaï in Paris and Bob van Asperen at the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. Honors, including a finalist showing at the Concours International Bach de Montréal, second prize at the Festival de musique de Bruge, and the 1997 Capriccio Stravagante Prize, helped his career to grow.
Fortin founded Ensemble Masques in Montreal in 1996 and has continued to serve as director of that group, although in performance, it has no conductor. As a soloist and as a member of Ensemble Masques and of other groups, including Toronto's Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, he has performed in cities throughout Canada, the U.S., Europe, and as far afield as East Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. Fortin has also performed with Hantaï and Skip Sempé in concerts and recordings of music for two or three harpsichords. In 1999, with Sempé, Fortin made his recording debut on the Astrée label with an album of music by Vivaldi. Often in collaboration with Sempé or with Ensemble Masques, Fortin has released more than 30 albums; in 2022, he was heard on the Ensemble Masques album Bach: Ouvertures-Suites. Fortin taught from 2004 to 2008 at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec. He is now on the faculty of the École Supérieure de Musique de Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in France, and he has also taught and directed ensembles at the Cluny Early Music Summer School.
© James Manheim /TiVo
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Discography
18 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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The Golden Hour
Lucile Boulanger, Pierre Simon , Olivier Fortin
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on 16 Feb 2024
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Buxtehude : Abendmusiken
Vox Luminis, Lionel Meunier, Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Sacred Vocal Music - Released by Alpha Classics on 8 Jun 2018
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Legrenzi: La morte del cor penitente
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin, Manuel Nunez-Camelino
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on 2 Jun 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Ouvertures-Suites
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on 3 Jun 2022
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach Transcriptions
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on 3 Nov 2023
24-Bit 192.0 kHz - Stereo -
François Couperin : L'art de toucher le clavecin
Chamber Music - Released by Alpha Classics on 17 Aug 2018
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: Concertos for Two Harpsichords
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin, Emmanuel Frankenberg
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on 24 Jan 2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Mensa Sonora - Biber And His Contemporaries
Classical - Released by Groupe Analekta, Inc. on 21 Mar 2006
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Johann Heinrich Schmelzer : Sacro-profanus sonatas
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Chamber Music - Released by Zig-Zag Territoires on 23 Aug 2013
Gramophone Editor's Choice24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Romanus Weichlein : Sonatas Opus 1 (1695)
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Chamber Music - Released by Alpha Classics on 21 Aug 2015
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rosenmüller: Sonate à 2, 3, 4 è 5 stromenti da arco & altri
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Classical - Released by ATMA Classique on 19 Mar 2013
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Le théâtre musical de Telemann
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Chamber Music - Released by Alpha Classics on 28 Oct 2016
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Routes du café
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Classical - Released by Alpha Classics on 13 Sep 2019
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Rameau: Pieces de clavecin en concerts
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Classical - Released by ATMA Classique on 3 Apr 2010
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Bach: 2 Harpsichords
Classical - Released by Paradizo on 29 Oct 2015
5 de Diapason16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Baroque Christmas (noel Baroque)
Classical - Released by Analekta on 1 Nov 2005
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
English Fancy
Masques, Olivier Fortin, Shannon Mercer
Classical - Released by Analekta on 13 May 2008
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Rosenmüller: Sonate à 2, 3, 4 è 5 stromenti da arco & altri
Ensemble Masques, Olivier Fortin
Classical - Released by ATMA Classique on 19 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo