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 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 as well as opening the 2025/2026 season with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and their new music director. Jacques will make débuts at important venues and festivals such as the Cologne Philharmonie, Heidelberg Fruhling, The Library of Congress (DC), The Musicus Society Hong Kong, Festspiel Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Ottawa Chamberfest, Impromptu Classical Concerts (Key West, FL) among others across North America, Europe, and Asia to be announced. He has appeared at important festivals including Chamberfest Cleveland and West, the Perlman, Gstaad Menuhin, and Victoria Summer festivals, Edmonton Chamber Music Society, Music Toronto, and Music From Angel Fire.

 The Warner Classics label will be releasing Jacques’ début album in summer 2026 with pianist Boris Kusnezow.

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 has won top prizes at a number of important international competitions including the Stulberg, Klein, Johansen, OSM Manulife, and Shean. Jacques is grateful for the support of 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 from the Fritz Behrens Foundation and is currently under the management of Sonia Simmenauer under her Zukunfts.musik initiative of Impresariat Simmenauer.