Musicians

Alexandre Éthier

Hailing from St-Aimé, in the Montérégie region of Quebec, Alexandre started learning guitar with father at a young age. That being said, it was only when he was about 17 years old, that he began to seriously devote his time and energy to the instrument. His musical apprenticeship brought him to study with José Harguindey, Alvaro Pierri and in Chicago with master composer and guitarist Sergio Assad.

In the spring of 2000, he met Richard Desjardins, who invited him to open for Richard Desjardins’ 2001 summer tour of France. Upon his return from France, he founded the guitar ensemble Forestare, an ensemble featuring 12 guitars and a 5-string upright bass. Forestare has performed hundreds of concerts in such rooms as the Palais Montcalm and the Salle Bourgie, in addition to being invited to perform in several international festivals in France, Quebec and Chili. In 2007, Forestare won a Felix award for Instrumental Album of the Year.

After 10 years together, the Forestare Ensemble is now recognized internationally for the quality of its concerts and for its unique and ambitious repertoire.

In conjunction with his work with Forestare, Alexandre actively works as a soloist and also performs in chamber music ensembles, often performing with Alexandre DaCosta and Wonny Song. In the past, he has been invited to perform with the Alcan String Quartet, L.A. String Quartet, and with the Orchestra London, with the director Jean-Philippe Tremblay. He also performs with Guitares Nomades, a guitar trio that performs various folkloric, jazz, and classical repertoires from around the world.

Alexandre teaches music at Share the Warmth, a youth outreach program in the southwest of Montreal. In september 2013, the ‘El Sistema’ program was implemented there, and ensemble guitar and chorale courses are offered free of charge three times a week.

In addition to teaching at the Camp Musical Père Lindsay every summer, he is the founder of the Projet Musical Kitcisakik, a free music camp and concert series offered to Anicinapek youth from the parc la Verendrye community.