Simon Rivard
Artistic Collaborator
TORONTO MENDELSSOHN CHOIR
Conductor
TORONTO SYMPHONY YOUTH ORCHESTRA
Biography
Simon Rivard is one of the most sought-after conductors on the Canadian music scene.
Since 2018, he has been the conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra. In 2022-23, he will make his debut with the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the Saskatoon Symphony Orchestra, and the Orchestre classique de Montréal. In addition, he will conduct the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra, the Orchestre symphonique de Sherbrooke, and the Edmonton Opera in Puccini’s Tosca.
Between 2018 and 2022, he held the title of RBC Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. At the TSO, he was mentored by Music Director Gustavo Gimeno. In addition to leading concerts throughout the season, he has been assisting world-class conductors such as Sir Andrew Davis, Peter Oundjian, Donald Runnicles, Jukka-Pekka Saraste, John Storgårds, Barbara Hannigan, Xian Zhang, and Eun-sun Kim. Since 2019, he has been an Equilibrium Young Artist, as part of Canadian soprano and conductor Barbara Hannigan's internationally acclaimed mentorship program for early-career professional musicians.
Simon Rivard is also an excellent choral conductor. Since 2020, he has been involved with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, Canada’s largest choral organization. He served as Associate Conductor (2020-2022), and as Artistic Collaborator (2022-present).
As a guest conductor, he has conducted orchestras in North America and Europe. He recently made his début with Orchestre symphonique de Québec, Orchestre symphonique Sherbrooke, and the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra. In February 2022, he made his début at the Edmonton Opera in Puccini's La Bohème. He also recently collaborated with celebrated Toronto-based opera company Against The Grain, in Holst’s Sāvitri.
In 2018, he was invited to participate in the first Conducting Mentorship Program at the Verbier Festival Academy (Switzerland), at the conclusion of which he was awarded a Special Prize. In 2022, he was invited by the Verbier Festival to be a coach of the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra.
In 2017-18, he served as Resident Conductor of the Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (Ontario, Canada). In 2017, he stepped in for Jean-Philippe Tremblay as Interim Music Director of the Orchestre de la Francophonie.