Newswire | Arion Baroque Orchestra unveils 2026-2027 Season

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Montreal, May 21, 2026 – Each new season of Arion Baroque Orchestra is like a journey back in time, reliving a kaleidoscope of emotions that differ from year to year.

For our 2026-2027 season, our programming will take you from fairy tales to the worlds of dreams, nature, and mythology, and introduce you to men and women whose creative lives seem larger than life. Our concerts will present a good number of enticing discoveries, but also some wonderful old favorites that we anticipate you will enjoy with fresh ears, championed by
outstanding artists from here and abroad.

We are delighted to renew and expand our partnerships, both local and international, notably
with Bourgie Hall of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Saint-Viateur parish in Outremont, the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, and the Palazzetto Bru Zane, Centre de musique
romantique française.

2026 – 2027 Programming

CENDRILLON
Saturday, October 17, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 18, 2026, at 2:30 p.m.
Bourgie Hall
Presented in partnership with the Palazzetto Bru Zane
Nicolò Isouard (1773 – 1818)
Cendrillon, opéra-féerie in three acts

With the singers Emma Fekete, Cyrille Dubois, Laurent Deleuil, Magali Simard-Galdès, Florie Valiquette, Julien Patenaude and Dominique Côté
Mathieu Lussier, direction
Arion Baroque Orchestra
Chœur Éphémère

Roseline Blain, choirmaster; Julien Patenaude, staging; Alexandre Dratwicki, artistic advisor

THE FOUR SEASONS
Friday, November 13, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Saint-Viateur Church
Saturday, November 14, 2026, at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 15, 2026, at 2:30 p.m.
Bourgie Hall
Presented in partnership with the Saint-Viateur d’Outremont Parish
Antonio Vivaldi (1678 – 1741)
The Four Seasons, RV 269, RV 315, RV 293, RV 297
Concerto for strings in B-flat major, RV 163 “Conca”
In Furore iustissimae irae, RV 626
“Vedrò con mio diletto” (Il Giustino, RV 717)
“Agitata da due venti” (Griselda, RV 718)
Antonia Bembo (1640 – 1720)
Cantata “Per il natale”
Leila Schayegh, violin and direction
Sophie Naubert, soprano
Arion Baroque Orchestra

BEETHOVEN, THE GATEWAY TO ROMANTICISM – Piano Concertos nos. 3 and 5
Saturday, March 6, 2027, at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 7, 2027, at 2:30 p.m.
Bourgie Hall
Presented in coproduction with Bourgie Hall
Ludwig van Beethoven (1770 – 1827)
Coriolan Overture, Op. 62
Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 “Emperor”
Sophie Gail (1775 – 1819)
La Méprise (Overture)
Élisabeth Pion, fortepiano
Mathieu Lussier, direction
Arion Baroque Orchestra

ACTÉON, DIDON ET ÉNÉE
Saturday, April 3, 2027, at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, April 4, 2027, at 2:30 p.m.
Bourgie Hall
Presented in coproduction with the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal
Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643 – 1704)
Actéon, H. 481
Henry Purcell (1659 – 1695)
Dido and Aeneas, Z. 626
With the singers Paulina Francisco, Anne Marie Beaudette, Philippe Gagné, Len Torrie,
Stéphanie Pothier and Marie-Andrée Mathieu
Andrew McAnerney, direction
Arion Baroque Orchestra
Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal

THE RETURN OF THE KING – Arion presents Les Jacobins
Friday, May 7, 2027, at 7:30 p.m.
Église Saint-Viateur
Sunday, May 9, 2027, at 2:30 p.m.
Bourgie Hall
Presented in partnership with Saint-Viateur d’Outremont Parish

Works by François-Adrien Boieldieu, François-Joseph Gossec, Louis-Ferdinand Hérold,
Étienne-Nicolas Méhul, Hélène de Montgeroult and their contemporaries

Les Jacobins, historical wind ensemble
Mathieu Lussier, bassoon and direction

Arion Baroque Orchestra’s New Executive Director
The Board of Directors of Arion Baroque Orchestra is delighted to announce the
appointment of Renée Villemaire as Executive Director.

Holding a master’s degree in piano from Université de Montréal and bringing over 20
years of experience as a dedicated arts administrator, Renée Villemaire has extensive experience working with cultural organizations in both the public and private sectors. Inspired by the excellence and boldness that have defined Arion for four decades, she looks forward to working alongside Artistic Director Mathieu Lussier to ensure the orchestra’s long-term sustainability while further expanding its reach on the national and international stages.
Renée Villemaire assumed her position on April 13.

Mathieu Lussier, Artistic Director
Artistic Director of Arion Baroque Orchestra since June 2019, and Artistic Director of Domaine
Forget de Charlevoix since 2022, Mathieu Lussier has energetically and passionately promoted the modern and baroque bassoon as solo instruments for more than two decades throughout North America, South America, and Europe. He also devotes considerable time to chamber music as a member of the ensemble Pentaèdre and is Associate Professor at the Music Faculty of the Université de Montréal. Mathieu Lussier has also conducted numerous other Canadian ensembles, such as Les Violons du Roy, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestre métropolitain.

Arion Baroque Orchestra
A cornerstone of Montreal’s music scene for forty-five years, Arion Baroque Orchestra is a pioneer in Quebec and Canada in the world of early music on period instruments. Under the artistic direction of conductor and bassoonist Mathieu Lussier since 2019, Arion presents a series of concerts featuring internationally renowned guest conductors and soloists.