TOMMY DUPUIS - Classical Guitarist
Biography
He is a touring artist for the 2024-2025 JM Canada Emerging Artist Tour and he is sponsored by the French string company Savarez. He is studying with a full scholarship for a Graduate Performance Diploma at the world-renowned Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University with the guitar legend Manuel Barrueco to prepare for the recording of his very first album. He is funded by the Quebec Research Funds. Classical guitarist Tommy Dupuis' intention to become an international touring artist is obvious and unstoppable.
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He has appeared on the Concerts Lachine podcast hosted by the great Quebec opera singer Richard Turp, in the JM Canada Moments musicaux concert series, in the Canadian Opera Company's free concert series, and soon, in the JM Canada Happy Hour concert series. He has performed on a large number of stages in Quebec, New Brunswick, Ontario, the United States, and soon, in Newfoundland. Some examples are the Maurice-O'Bready Hall in Sherbrooke, the Bradshaw Amphitheatre in Toronto, the Joseph-Rouleau Hall in Montreal, the Théâtre du cuivre in Rouyn-Noranda, just to name a few. He has also performed in the Koblenz and Iserlohn Festivals in Germany and in the festival in New York in the United States.
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His extraordinary expressiveness was noticed early in his career. Only three years after his classical guitar debut, Tommy Dupuis was awarded the "Favourite" prize at the prestigious Canadian Music Competition at the 2020 non-competitive edition in the 19-30 age category. He has also won several regional competitions and received more than twenty scholarships and received multiple awards and distinctions throughout his university studies. Guitarist Tommy Dupuis has had an astonishing start to his career despite the pandemic.
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His insatiable desire for collaboration led him to collaborate with Jessica Hunt, an American composer who has been commissioned by the famous Philadelphia Orchestra conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin, to write a guitar sonata for Tommy. The grand premiere of the first movement will take place on April 15, 2025. He also collaborated with the talented Quebec composer Vincent Pollender to write a piece for his Canadian tour. His toccata for guitar will be featured on his first album. Tommy takes very seriously the creation of new repertoire for the guitar and the quality of these pieces. This is why he aims to collaborate with both established composers and talented emerging composers.
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For chamber music performances, guitarist Tommy Dupuis collaborated with the super talented Quebec soprano Carole-Anne Roussel, recipient of the 2021 Prix d'Europe, a guitar-voice duo for a concert offered by JM Canada in July of 2022. Another notable example is his participation in the Barrueco ensemble composed of students from the class of the guitar legend Manuel Barrueco, an ensemble of exceptional musicians performing on stages in the State of Maryland and collaborating with internationally acclaimed musicians such as the Grammy-winning Los Angeles Guitar Quartet. Head to the "videos" section to see two of their interpretations, including the Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite for the Baltimore Classical Guitar Society.
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Classical guitarist Tommy Dupuis' extraordinary journey began at Cégep de Drummondville, when he began a Double Diploma of College Studies in health sciences and music (jazz guitar performance). Following his first performances, he fell in love with the idea of sharing not only his music, but also an experience filled with emotions and opportunities for learning and discovery for his audience. He therefore decided to devote himself fully to music to see where this adventure would take him by pursuing his undergraduate studies in classical guitar. Several performances and collaborations with talented performers and composers later, his artistry on the guitar, his love for music and his artistic personality have only grown, so much that, three years later, he was admitted to the master's degree with scholarships at the prestigious American university, the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University with the great guitarist Manuel Barrueco as his teaching assistant. Subsequently, he was admitted to the Graduate Performance Diploma with full scholarship to prepare his tour and his first album.