“A real poet with emotional maturity far beyond his young years”
BIOGRAPHY
Hailed by the Violin Channel as “a real poet with emotional maturity far beyond his young years”, Canadian violinist Jacques Forestier has quickly garnered international attention after winning the 2024 Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition in Hannover, Germany at age 19. A CBC Music “top 30 under 30” musician and Violin Channel Artist, Jacques has performed with top orchestras including the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Western Michigan Symphony, among others. In 2026 Jacques looks forward to his first full season which includes débuts with the philharmonics of Bremen, Dresden, and Duisburg. Potsdam, Neuss & Württembergisches Heilbronn chamber orchestras, NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra (Wroclaw), Staatskapelle Badisches Karlsruhe, a number of reappearances with the NDR Radiophilharmonie, Edmonton Symphony, and débuts at important venues and festivals such as the Cologne Philharmonie, Heidelberg Fruhling, The Library of Congress, Festspiel Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Victoria Summer Music Festival, Music Toronto, among others to be announced for 2025/2026. The Warner Classics label will be releasing Jacques’ début album in summer 2026.
In addition to winning the 1st Prize, Jacques was also awarded the Laureate and Audience Prize at the 12th Joseph Joachim International Violin Competition.
An Efrem Zimbalist Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Jacques is a student of Shmuel Ashkenasi and Pamela Frank and previously studied with Itzhak Perlman at the Perlman Music Program. He is a laureate of a number of important international competitions including the Stulberg, Klein, Johansen, OSM Manulife, and Shean competitions. Jacques is grateful for the support of many and would like to thank the Edmonton Community Foundation and the Anne Burrows Foundation for their generosity in supporting his growth as a musician.
Jacques plays on a G.B. Guadagnini (c. 1765 Parma) violin on generous loan by the Fritz Behrens Foundation and is currently under the management of Sonia Simmenauer under her Zukunfts.musik initiative of Impresariat Simmenauer guiding the next stages of his development.