François Bédard, M.B.A., Adm.A.
General Manager
François Bédard has been managing director of the Festival de Lanaudière since 1991. He studied at the National Theatre School and holds a master’s in business administration from the École des Hautes Etudes Commerciales (HEC). He received a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts and was winner of the Lèo Sharry Award (marketing, HEC). François Bédard held the position of production director at the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde as well as that of administrative director for the Conseil des arts in the Montreal Urban Community. He was founding director of the Conseil québécois de la musique (CQM) and a member, then vice-president, of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec from 1998 to 2009. In addition, he is founding secretary of the Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux du Québec (RÉMI) and a member of the Order of Chartered Administrators.

Alex Benjamin
Artistic Director
Alex Benjamin has been working closely with Father Fernand Lindsay on artistic endeavors since 2000. He trained as a pianist, receiving his undergraduate degree from the Université Laval, where he studied with Robert Weisz, and a master’s degree in performance from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, where he studied with Martin Canin. He also undertook doctoral studies with Gilbert Kalish. In the Prix d’Europe competition, he twice received the John Newmark Prize, in 1990 and 1991. Combined with his experience as a teacher at the Camp musical de Lanaudière and as a musicologist, Alex Benjamin already commanded a wide range of experience in the world of music upon his arrival at the Festival.

Michel Pelletier
Director of Marketing
Michel Pelletier joined the Festival in May of 2009. He comes from a strong, 25-year background in marketing in the fields of culture and publishing. Recently he worked for twelve years as Director of Marketing for the McCord Museum. He was responsible for marketing at Place des Arts from 1990 to 1995, and before that worked in the same capacity for Éditions Hurtubise HMH. In all these endeavors, Mr. Pelletier demonstrated outstanding expertise.

Céline Geoffroy
Controller
Céline Geoffroy arrived at the Festival as a trainee in 1989 and worked her way through the ranks to become controller in January of 2009. She has a Bachelor’s degree in accounting sciences. Madame Geoffroy is mayor of Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes.

Father Fernand Lindsay, c.s.v., Ph.D.
Artistic Director
    Father Fernand Lindsay passed away on March 17, 2009, but he was the guiding spirit
   behind the 32nd season of the Festival de Lanaudière.
Father Fernand Lindsay began studying music at a young age. He is a member of the community of Clercs de St-Viateur but leads a parallel life in music as a teacher and an involved member with a number of musical and cultural organizations. If he was the "spark" that ignited the Festival de Lanaudière, he is today the flame that fires a musical institution of international stature. The Amphitheatre in Lanaudière is the concrete realization of his dream to bring fine music to the general public. Father Fernand Lindsay is a member of the Order of Canada and an award-winning member of the Order of Quebec. He received the Quebec Tourism Excellence Prize and was the first national recipient of the Lescarbot Prize in Canada.

In November of 2002 he received the Governor General of Canada (Ramon John Hnatyshyn Prize). In June of 2003 the Faculty of Music of McGill University conferred on him an honorary doctorate.