The Opéra de Québec has announced the appointment of baritone Jean-François Lapointe as its new Artistic Director starting with the 2020-21 season. His first season will overlap with the current director Grégoire Legendre, who will retire in December 2020.  

This is a new direction for Lapointe’s distinguished career, as he has been active as a singer for the last 36 years. During the 2019-20 season, Lapointe is performing in Paris (Bastille and Opéra Comique), Marseille, Zurich and Toulouse. Last May, he made his Metropolitan Opera debuts in Les Dialogues des Carmélites. He is well-known for his interpretation of the title role of Pélléas in Debussy’s masterpiece.

Grégoire Legendre, a former baritone himself, has led the Opéra de Québec for 25 years. During his tenure, the company collaborated for several productions with the Metropolitan Opera and featured several productions from Robert Lepage. In 2008, the company hosted the international voice competition Operalia. In 2011, Legendre founded the Festival d’Opéra de Québec, which quickly became one of the main summer events on the opera stage in Canada.

For his work, Legendre was appointed to the Order of Canada in 2015 and received the Ruby Award from Opera Canada magazine in 2016.