Meet our
conductors
Jonathan Dagenais
Jonathan Dagenais holds a Master’s degree in Conducting from McGill University and a Bachelor’s degree in Composition from the Université de Montréal.
In addition to teaching at CEGEP and university (music theory, composition, ear training, musicianship, and conducting), Mr. Dagenais enjoys an active career as a composer and arranger for wind orchestra. His works have been performed repeatedly by numerous Canadian university and high school ensembles. They also appear on several professional recordings. His compositions are found in many North American concert band music festival syllabi and are currently published worldwide.
Jonathan is the conductor and artistic director of the Orchestre à Vents Non Identifié (OVNI), a Montreal wind orchestra that he co-founded in 2005. OVNI is an ensemble dedicated to collaborative and active listening, tone quality, refined interpretation, and humour. In 2010 and 2017, he was appointed conductor of the McGill Wind Orchestra. In 2012 he was a guest conductor for the Montreal Pop Symphony Orchestra. Jonathan Dagenais is also the conductor of the Cercle Philharmonique de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, a position he has held since September 2012. In September 2015 he was named conductor of the Orchestre de jeux vidéo (Montreal Video Game Orchestra), an ensemble dedicated to video game soundtracks. A long-time fan of video games and their music, this was a natural marriage of two of his passions. Most recently, in 2019, he was appointed principal conductor of the Ottawa Pops Orchestra.
Jonathan Dagenais is a conductor, clinician, and educator for the Twigg Musique Company in Quebec and a Yamaha Canada Master Educational Artist. .
Jonathan Dagenais’ official web site: http://www.jonathandagenais.com
Emmanuelle Lambert-Lemoine
Emmanuelle Lambert-Lemoine is a conductor, violist and pianist. She conducts the Ottawa Youth Symphony Orchestra and has taught for many years in the strings program at École secondaire publique De La Salle. She has completed her Master's degree in Orchestral Conducting at the University of Ottawa with Dinuk Wijeratne and Jean-Philippe Tremblay, and is a doctoral student in Viola Performance at the Université de Montréal with professors Juan Miguel Hernandez and Jutta Puchhammer-Sédillot. Other notable teachers include Jean-François Rivest, Michael Jinbo, Kensho Watanabe, David Rahbee and Jorma Panula in conducting; David Marks in viola; Stéphane Lemelin, Jean-Paul Sévilla and Jean Desmarais in piano. In parallel to her musical career, Emmanuelle completed a Master's degree in Performance Studies at the TISCH School of the Arts, NYU, where she focused her research on music education and political theater in the Americas. Her academic research currently explores the epistemology of music education, arts accessibility, and diversity in classical music. She is also a co-founder of ASTAWT (Action for Survivors of Torture and War Trauma), an organization that welcomes refugees to Ottawa.
Trevor Wilson
Trevor Wilson is an Ottawa-born conductor and composer who has been praised for his “close rapport with his players” and the “passion and clarity” he brings to performances. Trevor was recently appointed RBC Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where he will be mentored by Music Director Gustavo Gimeno, assist incoming guest conductors, and conduct performances with the TSO and TSYO throughout the season. Trevor is also beginning to see engagements as a guest conductor, having conducted the NAC Orchestra in July 2022. Under the mentorship of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, 2021 saw Trevor participating in the Orchestre Métropolitain’s inaugural Orchestral Conducting Academy where he covered rehearsals, participated in community outreach programs, and will continue to assist in performances with the OM during the 2022–23 season.
Trevor has been active in the Ottawa musical community, having conducted performances with the University of Ottawa orchestra and other local ensembles. In 2017 Trevor co-founded the Ottawa Pops Orchestra, an organization which aims to redefine the concert experience and attract diverse audiences, serving as its music Director until 2019. He also served as the Assistant Conductor of the National Academy Orchestra of Canada under the late Maestro Boris Brott in summer 2019. Having attended numerous masterclasses and festivals, Trevor has had the opportunity to study under internationally renowned conductors such as Alexander Shelley, David Zinman, Gerard Schwarz, Neil Varon, David Effron, and Markus Stenz. Trevor completed his graduate studies in orchestral conducting under Marin Alsop at the Peabody Conservatory, where he also served as Assistant Conductor to the Peabody Choruses.