A native of Kapuskasing who has lived in Sudbury since 1986, Leo Duquette works in the visual arts field through his company, Media Concepts. Over the years, his work has led him to collaborate with numerous cultural and community organizations in the region. For this Christmas concert, he is trading his camera for a microphone and joining the choir as a special guest, delighted to share a few songs and the magic of the holiday season.
In its early days, Les Troubadours was simply a group of music lovers. Over the years, the group has grown into a well-established bilingual community choir known for the originality of its numbers, the energy of its presentations, the diversity of its repertoire and the complexity of its vocal performances.
It all began in 1994, when Normand Blanchard and other Cambrian College teachers presented a café chantant/cabaret at the Collège. Josée Forest-Niesing, a member of the Carrefour francophone executive, was attracted by their performance and decided to meet Normand. Following their discussions, the two parties decided to form a choir associated with the Carrefour francophone.
The choir took shape under Blanchard’s musical direction, and produced a show/cabaret at Club Alouette in June 1995, with proceeds donated to charity. Blanchard is also in charge of administration, supported by Diane Leblanc as treasurer.
In the spring of 1996, Normand Blanchard stepped down as director of the Troubadours. However, a determined core of singers wanted to preserve this bilingual, non-denominational, multi-vocal choir. They hired Lise Jean-Louis as musical director the following autumn. This new version of the choir, renamed Les Troubadours, performed at Fraser Auditorium for the first time in April 1998.
In autumn 1998, following their example, the organizational structure of Les Troubadours was formally established as a declaration of principles.
From 1998 to the present day, the Troubadours have worked and grown alongside Lise Jean-Louis (1998-2001), Monique Lapalme-Arsenault (2001-2005), Marc Cyr (2005-2007), Monique Lapalme-Arsenault (2007-2011), Hélène Berthiaume and Heather Brown (2011-2012), Darquise Poulin (2012-2017). Since 1998, the bilingual choir has performed twice a year, at Christmas time and in the spring.
Following the pandemic, the Troubadours were forced to take a break for 3 years.
Showing its resilience, the choir returned with a vengeance in 2023, under the new direction of Stéphanie Doyle.
The Troubadours celebrated 30 years of harmonies in 2024, much to the delight of the audience.
A big thank you to our accomplice: Centre franco-ontarien de folklore !
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