Nicolas Ellis
Nicolas Ellis is the Artistic Director and Founder of the Orchestre symphonique de l’Agora in Montreal, an orchestra who’s mission is to organize benefit concerts for humanitarian organizations. He is currently the Resident conductor at the Orchestre symphonique de Québec and as of the 2018-19 season, he will be the Artistic Partner of the Orchestre Métropolitain in Montreal.
His recent engagements have brought him to work with the Filarmonica Arturo Toscanini in Parma, the Camerata Salzburg, the North Czech Philharmonic, Symphony Nova Scotia and the Orchestre de la Francophonie. At the invitation of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Mr. Ellis conducted a 5 concert tour with the Orchestre Métropolitain in the province of Québec during the summer of 2017, which earned him praises from the critics describing him as "a born conductor, a conductor of instinct" - Le Devoir. In addition, Mr. Ellis’s concerts with the Orchestre symphonique de l’Agora were nationally broadcasted on Radio-Canada.
Conducting fellow at the Aspen Music Festival (2014) and at the Accademia Chigiana di Siena (2013), Mr. Ellis has had the opportunity to work with great conductors such as Robert Spano, Leonard Slatkin, Hugh Wolff, Johannes Debus and Gianluigi Gelmetti. He also took part in a masterclass with Maestro Louis Langrée at the Festival de Pâques d’Aix-en-Provence (2016). He completed his Master’s degree in conducting at the McGill Schulich School of Music in Montreal, where he studied with Alexis Hauser and was a recipient of a Prestigious Schulich Scholarship.
In 2017, Mr. Ellis was also the recipient of the Bourse de carrière Fernand-Lindsay, a 50 000$ prize presented biennially to the most promising and emerging Canadian musician by the Fondation Père-Lindsay. He is also the recipient of the 2015 Heinz Unger Award delivered by the Ontario Arts Council. This national award, presented biennially to an emerging professional Canadian conductor, recognizes talent and promise, musicianship, and commitment to Canadian repertoire and Canadian musicians.