The Festival de Lanaudière is proud to be joined by Benoît Brière, our Spokesperson for the 2022 season. Get to know him, his passion for acting and the importance of music in his everyday life.
The role of classical music
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Mr. Brière is basically wedded to classical music, given that his spouse is a cellist—and in addition, Joliette-born. “A person who marries must adopt their wife’s hometown.” One might say that our Spokesperson is steeped in classical music everyday from morning to night!
It is a world Benoît adores and has learned to understand and appreciate ever since the day Maestro Jean-François Rivest* asked him to give an acting class for opera singers at the Université de Montréal. After that moment, he was back as the stage director of various concerts for the OSM and the OM.
“Don’t search for me this summer: I’ll be at the Festival de Lanaudière.”
Thank you, Mr. Brière, for being a part of our team. We look forward to seeing you at the Festival this summer!
Interview in french only :
About
A graduate (1991) of the National Theatre School of Canada, Benoît Brière is a multidisciplinary artist, highly respected by audiences and peers alike.
On the live stage, his formidable artistry has enabled him to act with equal flair in classics and contemporary works, comedies and dramas, including Molière’s Le Bourgeois gentilhomme and Les Fourberies de Scapin. He co-produces and acts in plays presented as part of the Théâtre du Vieux-Terrebonne’s summer season. Benoît has also staged productions of Le nozze di Figaro, Don Giovanni and Gianni Schicchi with the Atelier d’opéra de l’Université de Montréal.
His feature film work can also be admired in a number of movies including Oscar et la dame rose (Oscar and the Lady in Pink) by Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt, La Grande Séduction (Seducing Doctor Lewis), Le Sens de l’humour and La Chute de l’empire américain (The Fall of the American Empire). In Mourir en vie he makes his debut as a film director while also playing a heartbreakingly authentic character.
Brière has been on the cast of several televised series, notably the unforgettable Cher Olivier, followed by several other hit programs, including La Petite Vie, Musée Eden, 30 Vies, La Confrérie and Madame Lebrun—a sitcom filmed before a live audience.
His work has earned him several awards: he received the Prix Gascon-Roux in 2006 for the role of Sganarelle in Dom Juan; two Masques Awards for La Locandiera and Dom Juan as well as two Gémeaux Awards.
*Jean-François Rivest, Quebec orchestral conductor and violinist. Tenured Professor | Faculty of Music of the Université de Montréal.
