BIOGRAPHY

Canadian classical guitarist Sébastien Deshaies was born in Montreal in 1980. At the age of nine, he began his first guitar lessons with Mario Roy. Five years later, he studied the classical guitar at the Trois-Rivières Conservatory of Music with Marcel Benoît and subsequently at the Drummondville college for three more years. He also received further training from Bruno Perron (University of Montreal) and Isabelle Héroux (Laval University).
Among his most important awards are:
First Prize Winner in his category at the National Final of the Canadian Music Competitions (Montreal, 1997)
Prize for Musical Expression, Cégep de Sherbrooke (Sherbrooke, 1998)
First Prize Winner, Concours Guitare-Drumond (Drummondville, 1999)
Laureate, Grands Prix culturels de Trois-Rivières « arts de la scène Louis-Philippe Poisson » (Trois-Rivières, 2013 and 2005)
Laureate,«Prix Arts Excellence » for the project « Grands Concerts 2nd edition » (Mauricie, 2014)
He has already participated in the recordings of 14 albums among which are his two solo albums « Œuvres pour guitare seule / Works for solo guitar » in 2010 and « La Guitare au Sud » in 2018, a magnificent musical journey to the south of different countries and no doubt a must for all classical music lovers.
Three times grant holder from the Quebec Arts and Letters Council for the making of special cultural projects in his hometown.
In June 2012, he produced a series of 8 concerts within 10 days touring with internationally known Italian classical guitarist and composer Marcos Vinicius.
In March, 2013 Sébastien Deshaies becomes the very first Canadian classical guitarist invited to participate in the 24th international Guitar Festival ICPNA in Lima, Peru.
In October 2015, he performed at the Festival Entrecuerdas in Chile.
Since 2007, he has formed the Duo Contra-Danza with clarinetist Denis Doucet, presenting nearly 200 performances of a concert entitled “Le Voyage Virtuose” accross the four corner of Quebec. In 2002, je joined the founding members of the MG3 : Montréal Guitare Trio, allowing him to explore new musical horizons.
In addition to his performances as a soloist, he frequently shares the stage with other very talented musicians. Sébastien is also interested in the traditional music of the world in particular those of Québec, Ireland and Scotland.
Sébastien Deshaies has delighted audiences several times in his hometown and throughout the Province of Quebe and . He has also performed in the Canada (BC, ON), U.S.A, Chile, France, Peru and Mexico.
Sébastien Deshaies plays and 2003 and 2018 guitars by René Wilhelmy.
English transltation: Paul-André Deshaies