I Musici de Montréal Chamber Orchestra
20 years of passion!

Founded by ‘cellist and conductor Yuli Turovsky, I Musici de Montréal is a chamber orchestra of 15 musicians that presents a vast repertoire extending from the baroque to the contemporary. The orchestra presents a busy schedule of over 100 concerts per season throughout the world including three prestigious series in Montreal. This extraordinary amount of activity places I Musici amongst the most important touring orchestras in Canada.

Since its beginnings, I Musici has maintained an exclusive recording contract with Chandos Records of England and has, to date, released 43 CDs that are distributed in more than 50 countries around the world. These recordings have won the orchestra and Maestro Turovsky many awards among which one should mention a Diapason d’Or for their 1988 recording of Shostakovich’s 14th Symphony and a 1992 Penguin Guide Rosette for their Concerti grossi, opus 6 by Handel. I Musici’s recording of Handel has since become a reference recording of the highest standard.

In December of 1998, the Conseil québecois de la musique gave two Opus Awards to the orchestra for Recording Event of the Year and Best Recording - contemporary music for a CD grouping works by Gorecki, Pärt and Schnittke. In 1999, I Musici was awarded the Grand Prix des Arts by the Montreal Urban Community for their exceptional contribution to music presentation in and around Montreal.

In August 2001, BBC Music Magazine rewarded I Musici’s 40th CD by naming it their CD of the Month, calling it a Russian Tour de Force. The program of Miaskovsky, Schnittke and Denisov was thus honoured around the world. In April of 2002, I Musici was nominated for another Canadian Juno Award as Best Classical Album of the Year, this after having won a Juno for their recording of Ginestera, Villa-Lobos and Evangelista. Further more, the Orchestra’s recording, The Modern Cello, has received rave reviews from the prestigious Parisian magazine Diapason, qualifying the Orchestra’s interpretation as "virtuosité étincelante".

Under the dynamic and visionary direction of Maestro Yuli Turovsky who also performs as cello soloist with the orchestra, I Musici has performed in some of the greatest halls in the world: New York’s Lincoln Center, the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany, the Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussel, Kioi Hall in Tokyo and the Conservatoire de Musique in Luxemburg, among others. Public enthusiasm and the critical acclaim that underlines the precision, the cohesion and the virtuosity of performance as well as the brio and distinctive sound of the orchestra confirm I Musici’s importance on the world’s musical stage.

“ The Incredible String Band”, The Independent, London
“ I Musici de Montréal is a decided virtuoso group”, South China Morning Post, Hong-Kong
“ Whiplash precision and tension”, Stereo Review, New York