Yukari Cousineau

Yukari Cousineau is the concertmaster of the Orchestre Métropolitain, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.

She joined the orchestra in 1998, initially holding the position of assistant concertmaster, then associate principal viola. She is also a member of Ensemble Magellan, Quatuor La Muse (which she founded in 2008), and Ensemble Jean Cousineau. Since September 2018, she has been a guest professor at the Université de Montréal. 

Yukari Cousineau has been invited as a soloist by several Montreal-based ensembles, including the Orchestre de chambre Appassionata, with whom she performed Locatelli’s Concerto No. 12, broadcast on Radio-Canada. With the Orchestre Métropolitain, she has performed Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons (conducted by Mathieu Lussier), Berg’s Violin Concerto (To the Memory of an Angel) (Julian Kuerti), Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor (Kensho Watanabe), Mozart’s Sinfonia Concertante for Violin and Viola (with violist Marina Thibeault and conductor Daniele Callegari), Nielsen’s Violin Concerto (Nicolas Ellis), and Walter Boudreau’s La Vie d’un héros (Yannick Nézet-Séguin). 

As a chamber musician, she has been a member of Trio Cousineau, Quatuor Molinari, and Cordes romantiques. She has been invited to numerous festivals, including the Festival de Lanaudière, the Mountain View Festival, Concerts aux Îles du Bic, and Un Été à Bourges, where she was twice featured in solo violin recitals. She has performed in recital with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Alvaro Pierri, Jean Saulnier, and Julien LeBlanc, and for several years, she played as a duo with pianist Mateo Creux. She has also performed and recorded multiple times with her uncle, pianist and composer François Cousineau. 

Immersed in music from a young age, Yukari is the daughter of Jean Cousineau, founder of the École Les Petits Violons. A gifted musician from an early age, she became the concertmaster of Ensemble Les Petits Violons at just 11 years old. Her years with Les Petits Violons were marked by numerous concerts, tours, and album recordings. She later served as concertmaster or principal viola with La Pietà, the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre de chambre Appassionata, and the Orchestre symphonique de Longueuil. 

Yukari has worked as a répétiteur at École Les Petits Violons, taught violin and viola at UQAM for several years, and is regularly invited to give masterclasses. Since she began teaching at the Université de Montréal, her students have affectionately nicknamed her studio Yukateam.