Jacques C. Despr茅s
Pianist聽JACQUES C. DESPR脡S聽has been heard widely for more than four decades through his recordings, performances as a soloist with orchestras, solo recitals, and collaborative work. An intelligent, refined, highly sensitive and disciplined artist, Despr茅s鈥� performances and recordings are praised by critics who cite his 鈥渃rystalclear聽pianism,鈥� and his abilities 鈥渢o bring humanity, integrity and an enormous expressive range to the pieces.鈥� His 鈥減ianistic control is flawless, the sonority magnificent, and the playing is utterly and consistently clear.鈥澛�
Since his 1978 debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Despr茅s appeared as a soloist with many orchestras under the baton of conductors including Otto-Werner Muller, Franz-Paul Decker, Jens Nygaard, and Simon Streatfield. Despr茅s鈥� tours have included performances aired on CBC radio and at summer festivals in North American and聽Asia .聽Notable recordings include the world premiere of the complete piano works of Joseph Martin Kraus and the Kraus鈥� complete chamber music works on the Naxos label, which received widespread critical acclaim and聽exposure .聽A leading lecture-performance artist on both period and modern instruments, Despr茅s has been invited to numerous schools in North America and Asia, including the Juilliard聽School, Northwestern University, Vanderbilt聽聽University, and the Central Conservatory of China (Beijing) .聽He also was invited twice for the Daniel Ericourt Residency at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro,聽NC .聽
Despr茅s holds a DMA (Doctor of Musical聽聽Arts) from Stony Brook University, a聽Master鈥檚聽degree from the Juilliard School of Music, a Unanimous First Prize from the Quebec Conservatory, and the Artist Diploma with High Distinction from聽聽Indiana University as a student of Gy枚rgy聽Seb枚k聽.聽Other teachers include Adele Marcus, William Masselos, Gilbert Kalish, and Christiane S茅nart. He has taught at Western Washington University in Bellingham from 1996 to聽2000 .聽He joined the Music Department of the University of Alberta in 2000 and has been a Professor of Music since聽2005 .聽In 2022, he was the recipient of the Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching and Mentorship from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Alberta and in October 2023, he was inducted into the Steinway & Sons Teacher Hall of Fame in聽NYC .聽
