Galileo

Directed by Daniel Constantineau, Galileo (formerly Orchester symphonique de la Vallée-du-Haut-Saint-Laurent) is the only professional classical music company in Montérégie-Ouest, on the southwestern outskirts of Greater Montreal.

Chamber formation composed of 15 to 35 instrumentalists depending on the repertoire it tackles, its main objective is to produce living symphonic music in a territory which is generally deprived of it. It does this on period instruments, which harmonizes wonderfully with the historical character of the region.Moreover, Galileo is an NPO registered as a charitable organization and as such promotes training and musical development. of its public in general and young people in particular.

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Since the beginning of its activities in October 2010, the Orchestra has performed 23 times in various agglomerations of Montérégie-Ouest, as well as in Dorval and Saint-Jérôme. His productions testify to the quality of his artistic work and his regional roots in that they respectively led him to the recording of baroque works by André Gagnon by the prestigious ATMA label in July 2015, to the obtaining of his first grants from Musicaction, Canada Council for the Arts, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Conseil des arts et de la culture de Vaudreuil-Soulanges and MRC de Vaudreuil-Soulanges since 2015, to his participation in the Seigneuriales of Vaudreuil-Dorion since June 2016, nominations at the Gala de l'ADISQ 2016, Prix Opus 2017, 2020 and 2021 and at the reception of a first Prix Opus in January 2020 (Best concert - Multiple repertoire), for “Operas!”, produced in collaboration with the Atelier lyrique de l'Opéra de Montréal (photo).

A PERIOD ORCHESTRA UNIQUE IN CANADA

The idea of interpreting baroque, classical and romantic repertoires on instruments and according to qualified “period” games was born about 60 years ago and has helped to dust off the way symphonic music is performed. The most striking characteristics of this "new" way correspond to a generally softer, more velvety but also more expressive playing, as well as to the use of instruments whose construction respects that of past centuries. This facilitates the balance of the sound masses of the various sections of an orchestra.

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In this way, Galileo is positioned as a symphonic phalanx at the cutting edge of global trends in terms of classical music interpretation and is the only Canadian formation to approach all the repertoires that can lend itself to it, it is to say from the late Baroque (1730-1750) to the Roaring Twenties (1930), according to parameters and approaches qualified as historically informed.

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Conductor Daniel Constantineau and Galileo deliver captivating, dynamic interpretations of the programed works, giving special attention to respecting of the composers’ intentions and musical clarity,

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He has earned praise from critics who have followed his work (see page danielconstantineau.com/temoignages), Mr. Constantineau is noted for precision and sensitivity to the rich subtleties of Galileo’s symphonic repertoirer. He constantly researches fresh solutions to fine tune the concerts. 

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Mr. Constantineau is inspired and guided by the work of the great conductors of period music, such as Harnoncourt, Norrington, Gardiner, and Herreweghe (to name just a few), as well as the historic treatises concerning period music that he studies, and, above all, the teachings of Olivier Messiaen concerning Midaeval music and the agagic of the works of Mozart, as was transmitted by the outstanding composer and teacher, Gilles Tremblay, who Daniel Constantineau had the opportunity to study under.

VIOLINS

Guillaume Villeneuve | solo

Julie Triquet | associate solo

Natalie Cadotte | section leader

Simon Alexandre

Diane Bayard
Olivier Brault
Mélanie De Bonville
Jimin Dobson

Jessy Dubé

Noémy Gagnon-Lafrenais 

Samuel Hogue

Judy Hung

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VIOLAS

Jacques-André Houle | section leader​
Pemi Paull

Benjamin Rota

Justin Almazan

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CELLO

Marie-Michel Beauparlant | section leader

Amanda Keesmaat
François Leclerc

Elinor Frey

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DOUBLE BASS / VIOLONE

Francis Palma-Pelletier | section leader

TRAVERSOS and PICCOLOS

Grégoire Jeay | Section leader

Joanna Mardsen
Mika Putterman

BAROQUE / CLASSICAL OBOE

Andrew Maruzella 

Karim Nasr

Lindsay Roberts

Joël Verkaïk 

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CLASSICAL CLARINET

Mark Simons | section leader

Ludovik Lesage-Hinse

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BAROQUE / CLASSICAL BASSOON

Michel Bettez

Mary Chalk

Karim Nasr
François Viault

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NATURAL HORNS

Simon Bourget
Marjolaine Goulet

Alice Lane-Lépine
Laurence Latreille-Gagné

Guillaume Roy

NATURAL TRUMPETS

Alexis Basque | section leader

Vincent Pigeon

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TIMPANI

Matthias Soly-Letarte

BAROQUE / CLASSICAL HARP

Antoine Mallette-Chénier

PIANOFORTE / HARPSICHORD

Olivier Godin​

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Daniel Constantineau, MMEC HEC Montreal, Executive and Artistic director

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Denis Ellefsen, Engineer MBA – President
Jean-Pierre Gaboury, Lawyer – Vice president
Martin Leboeuf, Ph.D, Vice president PrimaMedic Group – Treasurer
Marie Trudeau, Music Librarian, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation – Secretary
Michael Clermont, IT specialist, Banque National  – Trustee
Daniel Constantineau, MMEC, General manager and Artistic director of Galileo – Trustee
Charlotte Montminy, MBA, Manager CRM, The Cirque du Soleil Group – Trustee
Danielle Vaillancourt, Marketing Associate, RCB Dominion Securities – Trustee

Marthe Saint-Louis