BIOGRAPHY

Deeply attuned to the power of storytelling and the emotional depth of musical experience, Canadian cellist Sébastien Lépine has established himself as a distinctive voice on today’s classical scene. Through projects that bring together performance, conducting, and creation, he offers an embodied approach to music in which virtuosity and sensitivity serve a genuine connection with audiences.

A versatile artist, he maintains a rich and multifaceted career as a soloist, chamber musician, conductor, and composer, performing across Canada, the United States, Mexico, and Europe. He has appeared with numerous ensembles, including the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, the Orchestre symphonique de Drummondville, the Orchestre de chambre Appassionata, the Orchestre de la francophonie, the Camerata Orquesta de Bellas Artes de Mexico, and the Orquesta Filarmónica de Chihuahua. Composer Gilles Bellemare dedicated a cello concerto to him, highlighting the strength and individuality of his artistic voice.

In chamber music, he has developed meaningful collaborations that have brought him to major stages internationally, always with a focus on creating compelling and cohesive artistic experiences. He has served as Music Director of the Conservatoire de musique de Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestra for over a decade, and has also conducted the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières and the Conservatoire network orchestra on several occasions, demonstrating a musical vision that is both rigorous and deeply human.

His recordings, critically acclaimed and internationally broadcast, reflect a clear artistic direction: to create projects that are bold, accessible, and meaningful. In this spirit, he is currently preparing an album devoted to French sonatas, to be released in September 2026. His work has been featured on Radio-Canada and ICI Musique, and broadcast in more than twenty countries worldwide.

The recipient of numerous awards, he has notably received the Prix Louis-Philippe-Poisson at the Trois-Rivières Cultural Awards, the Arts Excellence Award from Culture Mauricie, as well as grants from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. His recent project Solitude, emblematic of his artistic approach, was a finalist at the 2025 Trois-Rivières Cultural Awards.

A graduate with high distinction from the Conservatoire de musique de Trois-Rivières, where he studied with Michaël Kilburn, he continued his training with Antonio Lysy at McGill University and later with the renowned János Starker at Indiana University. He also studied conducting with Raffi Armenian, developing a comprehensive and structured approach to musical interpretation.

A dedicated pedagogue, Sébastien Lépine is a professor of cello, chamber music, and orchestra at the Conservatoire de musique de Trois-Rivières. He is regularly invited to give masterclasses and to serve as a jury member, actively contributing to the development of the next generation of musicians.

He performs on a Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume cello and an Eugène Sartory bow, generously on loan from CANIMEX.