Émilie Fortin

Émilie Fortin's artistic practice revolves around three axes: the creation of new repertoire through close collaboration between performer and composer, the exploration of new sounds through improvisation, and teaching. Constantly seeking to enrich the trumpet repertoire, she has participated in the creation of over forty works. Her future and present collaborations explore physicality connection with training in body mime, dance and theater. In 2018, she created the soloist collective Bakarlari and serves as its artistic director. Dedicated to solo contemporary and creative music by offering concert experiences outside the traditional framework, Bakarlari is supported by Le Vivier Group. As an improviser, Émilie “possesses a tonal clarity and a knack for inventive, asymmetrical phrasing” (Scott Thomson, FIMAVs Artistic Director). Her collaborations include recordings and performances with, among others, Éric Normand, the Ratchet Orchestra and GGRIL. She is a member of the Toronto-based ensemble Freesound, a collective of artist-creators dedicated to commissioning and presenting contemporary music in all its forms, and of ék, a mime and sound duo with trombonist Kalun Leung. Émilie has participated, among others, in the soundSCAPE Festival (Italy), Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance and Practice (Boston), Oh My Ears Festival (Arizona), Re:Sound (Cleveland) and Northwestern New Music Conference (Chicago). She has worked with members of the International Contemporary Ensemble (Banff Centre for the Arts), Ensemble Musikfabrik (Bauwerke Brass Academy), Ensemble Modern (Klangspuren Schwaz) and Vinko Globokar (Laboratorium), and has studied with Marco Blaauw and Bill Forman. In Montreal, she has performed with Productions SuperMusique (PSM) and the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM). A firm believer that pedagogy is an integral part of being a well-rounded performer, Émilie teaches in various high schools and music camps in the Montreal area as a specialist. For three years, she taught trombone, trumpet and music theory in Croix-des-Bouquets and Jacmel (Haiti) as part of the Ambassadors program. During the 2017-2018 season, she had the chance to hone her skills in community teaching with The Global Leaders team, having been one of 35 people selected from around the world to be part of this adventure. This allowed her to be a guest teacher in Bolivia (Conservatorio Plurinacional de Mùsica), Chile (Viva la Mùsica Panguipulli), Panama (Orquestra Veragüense de Vientos ) and Washington (DC Youth Orchestra Program). As an ardent defender of the representativeness of brass instruments and the democratization of contemporary music, Émilie advocates for these issues as a presenter for organizations and conferences such as IRCAM Forum 2021, UQAM (Gender Differences and Inequalities in Music in Quebec), the Vivier Interuniversitaire and at the Canadian League of Composers. She is also a founding member of the Burning Brass Band, an ensemble that aims to increase the place of women, trans, non-binary and queer people in the Montreal brass band scene. Originally from Abitibi-Témiscamingue, she studied at the Conservatoire de musique de Val-d'Or in the class of Frédéric Demers; she then studied classical performance with Lise Bouchard at the Université de Montréal. In 2017, she completed her Master of Music at McGill University under the tutelage of Russell DeVuyst. Émilie has received grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and the Montreal Arts Council.