Classical guitarist
Rémi Boucher – one of the best guitarist in the world today, he has won numerous Grand Prix’s and first prizes in many international competitions, is a renowned teacher and professor of the instrument, has brilliant technique and multitude of feelings in his play.
Rémi Boucher was born in 1964 in Rouyn-Noranda (Québec, Canada). He studied the classical guitar in the Montreal Conservatory with Jean Vallières and afterwards completed his studies in Spain (with J Henriquez, J L Rodrigo, V Mikulka, David Russell, M Barrueco), in Belgium at the Royal Conservatory of Antwerp (with V van Puijenbroeck) and in Switzerland at the Basel Academy with O Ghiglia. Those travels would not have been accomplished without the aid of the “Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec” and the Canada Council, which not only offered him many grants, but the Sylva Gelber Award, making Rémi Boucher the first guitarist in 30 years to have won this honor!
In addition to his many national and international prices, in less than 18 months, Rémi Boucher has conquered Europe, America and Asia winning at the unanimity the first prize of five of the most important international music competitions (Alessandria in Italy, Andrès Segovia in Palma de Mallorca in Spain, Havana in Cuba, Mauro Guiliani in Turin, and Fernando Sor in Roma).
Since that great success, he was invited by many major symphony orchestras in all over the world, which gave him the opportunities to play up to ten of the greatest guitar concertos conducted in some cases by the famous Cuban composer Léo Brouwer. Because of the success coming out of his concerts his career expanded very fast and allowed him to play, to gives master classes and to participate as member of international juries in many of the most important competitions, music festivals and universities of the world with regularly renewed invitations.
His love and relationship with other cultures, his interest for all kinds of instruments and his work to create new ideas, brought him to discover new technical possibilities, which allow him to enlarge the capabilities of the instrument. Pioneer in that domain, he collaborated closely with conductors to create a repertory that could serve those new musical possibilities. To study those techniques Rémi Boucher has also created a series of his own compositions and a new technical method. His last success was a fruit of 7 years of works in collaboration with his favorite conductor and pianist Jacques Marchand from Canada that composed for him one of the biggest and most impressive concerto ever composed for classical guitar and symphony orchestra. The concerto is now published in two versions, one for guitar and symphony orchestra and the other for solo guitar. His last critics in Austria told that Rémi Boucher has no technical and musical limits, the concerto of Marchand was sub-titled “concerto for three hands…”!
His repertoire also includes all of the most famous guitar concertos (Rodrigo, Villa-Lobos, Tedesco, Ponce, Torroba, Brouwer, Abril, Guiliani and Vivaldi) just as well as the most interesting works for solo guitar from the Renaissance to the Modern music. In 2012, he premiered Peeter Vähi’s Guitar Concerto No 2 (Antarctic Concerto) together with Glasperlenspiel Sinfonietta and Maestro Andres Mustonen. Rémi Boucher is especially known for his excellent interpretation of impressionist and Spanish music that were strongly acclaimed by the critics in all over the world.
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of India’s independence, Rémi Boucher was invited by the Canadian Governor General to perform in concert. As a representative of Canadian artists, he was also invited by the President of India for a meeting between both countries. These stupendous and rarely seen successes have definitely set the pace for Rémi’s brilliant career. In October 2013, Rémi Boucher performed in the Great Hall of St Peterburg Philharmonic together with the St Peterburg Academic Philharmonic Orchestra under the baton of Mikhail Leontyev.
“Rémi Boucher has fire, passion, zest and poetry and he has them in spades. There is hope for the guitar when it is play like this…” (International Guitar Magazine)
Rémi Boucher plays on a guitar built by Joachim Schneider, Germany.
DISCOGRAPHY
Rémi Boucher (Electra 2001)
Amati, Rémi Boucher. Torroba Abril (Analekta, Canada)
Fleurs de lys, Edition Analekta Classic
Rémi Boucher live in Cuba (International Festival of Havanna 1994)
Rémi Boucher in Mexico (International Festival of Morelia 1995)
Rémi Boucher in Mexico (International Festival of Morelia 1998)
Rodrigo Concierto de Aranjuez. Adagio, 122 sec, mp3
DVD. Kellade ansambel Arsis. Videokroonika 2008−2013. ERP 7013-2
