The four violinists and two cellists will assume their roles in August this year
The Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal (CMM) has announced a significant number of appointments to its faculty. They are violinists Josée Aidans, Marcelle Mallette, Jean-Sébastien Roy and Guillaume Villeneuve; cellists Mariève Bock and Anna Burden; as well as pianists Mehdi Ghazi and Serhiy Salov. They will take up their new roles in August 2026.
Violinist Josée Aidans is a CCM graduate, where she studied with Raymond Dessaints and Johanne Arel. She has performed as assistant concertmaster of Ensemble Amati, and as a freelance musician for artists including Luciano Pavarotti, Céline Dion, Diana Ross, Barbara Streisand, Josh Groban, and Rod Stewart. Aidans has also taught at the Val-d’Or and Trois-Rivières conservatoires, and at Camp Musical des Laurentides.
Violinist Marcelle Mallette trained at the Conservatoire de Musique du Québec and the University of Indiana, studying with Joseph Gingold. She has performed as concertmaster with the Orchestre Symphonique de Laval, the Orchestre des Jeunes du Québec, and the Auckland Philharmonia, as well as associate concertmaster with the Orchestre Métropolitain. Other ensemble appearances include the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and Ottawa’s Orchestra of the National Arts Centre. She has taught at the Melbourne and Sherbrooke universities and Camp Musical des Laurentides.
Violinist Jean-Sébastien Roy is a graduate of CMM, the Cleveland Institute of Music, and studied privately with violinist Rodney Friend in London. He has performed as concertmaster of the Columbus Symphony and McGill Chamber orchestras, as guest concertmaster of the Buffalo Philharmonic and Royal Swedish Opera orchestras, and currently holds the position of first assistant of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra’s first violin section. Among his accolades, he won the 2006 Prix d’Europe and was awarded the Montreal International Musical Competition’s Joseph Rouleau Prize twice, in both 2003 and 2006.
Violinist Guillaume Villeneuve studied at the McGill and Montreal universities, and is a founding member of the Cobalt Quartet as well as concertmaster of the Galileo Orchestra. He has also performed as guest concertmaster of the Ottawa Baroque Consort, Ensemble Caprice, and Antiphona, as well as leading the second violin section of the Harmonie des Saisons. He won first prize in the 2022 Mathieu Duguay Early Music Competition, as well as the 2023 Opus ‘Discovery of the Year’ prize.
Cellist Mariève Bock trained with Denis Brott at CMM and with Norman Fischer at Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music, and has received masterclasses from cellists including Yo-Yo Ma, Lynn Harrell, and Pieter Wispelwey. She has attended the Tanglewood Music Center’s summer sessions, and has performed as a soloist with Ensemble Contemporain de Montréal.
Cellist Anna Burden studied with Hans Jørgan Jensen at the Northwestern University, with Joel Krosnick and Darrett Adkins at the Juilliard School, with Alan Stepansky at the Manhattan School of Music, and privately with Richard Aaron. She has performed with the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra, the Peninsula Music Festival, and as associate principal cellist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra since 2011. She also teaches at the McGill and Montreal universities.
‘The arrival of these eight professors marks an important step for the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal,’ said CMM director Luc Chaput. ‘Their artistic excellence and their pedagogical commitment will help inspire the next generation of musicians.’
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