Joliette, December 3, 2009 – Chairman of the board of the Festival de Lanaudière, Claude-Armand Sheppard, and managing director, François Bédard, are pleased to announce the appointment of Alex Benjamin to the position of artistic director of the Festival.

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. 

Father Fernand Lindsay, the Festival’s founder, chose Alex Benjamin to carry out his artistic projects, recommended that he become director of programming in 2007 and gave him total responsibility for decisions on Festival repertory and artists. 

The board of directors unanimously and enthusiastically acknowledges the competence Mr. Benjamin has shown in recent years and entrusts him with the position that has devolved upon him so naturally. 

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Source:
Sarah Gariépy
Communication Officer
450-759-7636, #29

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