Award-winner at the Paris and Verviers international voice competitions, the Canadian bass-baritone Olivier Laquerre has been in great demand as a soloist since winning the prestigious Joseph-Rouleau Prize (1st Prize) at the Jeunesses Musicales of Canada Voice Competition in 1999.  He studied with the well-known teachers Jan Simons in Montreal, as well as Patricia Kerne in Toronto and Marlena Malas in the US.

On stage, Olivier Laquerre made his debut in 2006 as ESCAMILLO in Bizet’s Carmen at Opera de Québec. In the Fall of 2006, Mr. Laquerre performed PAPAGENO in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte, in Toronto, and was also featured in the same role in the film Magic Flute diaries by Sullivan Productions, which was released in 2007.  Among many roles, Mr. Laquerre performed ACHILLA in Haendel’s Giulio Cesare; Don ALVARO in Rossini’s Il Viaggio a Reims; ANDREI SHCHELKALOV in Boris Godunov; ANGELOTTI in Tosca; HALY in Rossini’s L'Italiana in Algeri; ORONTE in Médée by Charpentier; THOAS in Iphigénie en Tauride by Gluck; The MESSENGER in Stravinsky's Œdipus Rex at the Edinburgh International Festival and in Toronto.  Olivier Laquerre was warmly hailed as MEDUSA and CÉPHÉE in Lully’s Persée, asPLUTO in Monteverdi’s Orfeo and as LEPORELLO in Mozart's Don Giovanni, all performed with Opera Atelier in Toronto.

Olivier Laquerre went on tour in Korea with Opera Atelier in 2003, performing LEPORELLO, and performed the role of OTTONE in Monteverdi’s L'Incoronazione di Poppea in Cleveland.  He participated in the 2001 and the 2005 Boston Early Music Festivals, in the role of ARCAS in Thesée by Jean-Baptiste Lully, as well as in the world premiere of Johann Mattheson’s Boris Goudenow, where he sang the role of THEODORUS IVANOWITZ in May 2005.  As a regular guest of this Festival, Mr. Laquerre will participate again in 2007, singing in Lully’s Psyché.

In concert, Olivier Laquerre performed in Stravinsky's Œdipus Rex with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Purcell’s Fairy Queen with Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra in December 2006 and Vaughan William’s 1st Symphony with the Trois-Rivières Symphony Orchestra under Jacques Lacombe in April 2007.  He performed Haendel's Messiah on several occasions, as well as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony, Bach’s Magnificat and Johannes Passion.  Mr. Laquerre is a regular guest soloist with many orchestras and ensembles, among them the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, the Milwaukee Symphony orchestra, Apollo’s Fire in Cleveland, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Montreal and the Quebec Symphony orchestras, and was also invited at the Banff Centre for the Arts, at the Lanaudiere International Music Festival, and at the Ojai Music Festival in California.

Upcoming engagements with Opera Atelier include OTTONE in Monteverdi’s L'Incoronazione di Poppea, April 2009, THOAS in Gluck’s Iphigenie en Tauride, November 2009 and the title role in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro in 2010.  We can often hear Mr. Laquerre both on the English and French networks of the CBC.  Mr. Laquerre is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.