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The Canadian conductor and voice teacher, Stéphane Potvin, was born and raised near the city of Québec. He received his early music training in piano from the age of seven. Throughout high school he became interested in music leadership and more specifically choral and orchestral conducting. That desire brought him to Nicolet where he studied with the highly talented and dedicated soeurs de l’assomption. He then went on to McGill University to study in piano performance and choral conducting (Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance: 1986-1991). He then obained his Bachelor of Music Education in Music education from Western University (1996-1997). He eventually received a Master of Music degree in Choral Conducting from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign under the tutelage of Fred Stoltzfus (1997-1998). He is very privileged to have further studied conducting with Frieder Bernius, Otto Werner Mueller, and Gustav Meier to name a few. During his time at McGill he studied voice privately with Louise Yard who introduced him to the old Bel Canto technique. At first, he thought this was a very strange way of learning to sing as almost all of it went against everything he had learned before and from different conductors. Only after about a year of lessons did he truly begin to understand and appreciate the benefits of the technique.
Stéphane Potvin has been Conductor of the wind ensemble at Lakehead University (September 2008-May 2010); Artistic Administrator (May 2009-May 2010) and Resident conductor (September 2008-May 2011) of Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra; Board Member of Choirs Ontario (2007-2013); Director Of Music Ministry at Canadian Martyrs Church in Ontario (September 2017-August 2019); Music Director of Rosewood Consort in Hamilton, Ontario (January 2015-December 2019); Conductor of Duet Club in Hamilton, Ontario (September 2012-June 2021); Founder & Artistic Director of Villanella in Hamilton, Ontario (September 2013-Jun 2021); Artistic Director of Chorus York in Richmond Hill (September 2016-June 2022); Director of Music Ministry at St James Anglican Church (Februaryy 2022-January 2025); Founder & Artistic Director of Musikay (since September 2005); Artistic Director of Stratford Concert Choir (since June 2022).
For many years Stéphane Potvin focused on his conducting career, but a few years ago he decided it was time to share his knowledge of healthy and efficient voice training.In September 1990, he opened his private studio and has been offering workshops and group classes in southern Ontario. He recently resumed lessons with master teacher Carol Bagott-Forte who is internationally recognized for her pedagogical skills and her profound understanding of the natural function of the voice. Along with Voice Builder website, he offers summer vocal training sessions for professionals and emerging singers and continues to train conductors to help them guide their singers to sing in a healthy way. |
