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” and “Violin Channel Artist”, Forestier has performed with orchestras including the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Munich Chamber Orchestra, Western Michigan Symphony, among others. 

In 2026/2027 he looks forward to his first full season which includes débuts with the philharmonics of Calgary, Bremen, Dresden, and Duisburg. Potsdam, Neuss & Württembergisches Heilbronn chamber orchestras, NFM Leopoldinum Orchestra (Wrocław,), Münchner Symphoniker at Munich’s Isarphilharmonie, Staatskapelle Badisches Karlsruhe, a number of reappearances with the NDR Radiophilharmonie as well as opening the 2025/26 season with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and their new music director. Forestier 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, Flagey (Brussels), Ottawa Chamberfest, among others to be announced. He has appeared recently 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 Forestier’s début album "Song and Dance" in summer 2026 with pianist Boris Kusnezow, recorded at the Teldex Studio in Berlin. 

An Efrem Zimbalist Fellow at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, Forestier is a student of Shmuel Ashkenasi and Pamela Frank. He has won top prizes at a number of important international competitions including the Stulberg, Klein, Johansen, OSM Manulife, and Shean. Forestier 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. 

Forestier plays on a G.B. Guadagnini (c. 1765 Parma) violin on generous loan from the Fritz Behrens Foundation and currently mentored by renowned artist manager Sonia Simmenauer under her Zukunfts.musik initiative of Impressariat Simmenauer.