Fabienne Voisin, new President and CEO of the OM

October 13, 2022 |

The board of directors of the Orchestre Métropolitain is pleased to announce the appointment of Fabienne Voisin as the organization’s new president and CEO.

As such, she succeeds Jean R. Dupré, who has held the position for the last 10 years. Ms. Voisin will assume her new duties on December 1, 2022. With an educational background in music and business administration as well as solid experience in cultural management and extensive knowledge of the symphonic repertoire, Ms. Voisin has had an impressive career path. For 11 years, she was head of the Orchestre national d‘Île-de-France (ONDIF), one of the 20 orchestras worldwide the most invested in educational and cultural outreach.

The OM and the ONDIF: Two orchestras, the same mission
In their missions and values, the Orchestre national d‘Île-de-France and the Orchestre Métropolitain have many points in common. Both orchestras have devoted themselves to putting the symphonic repertoire within the reach of everyone and travelling to meet audiences on their home turf. Drawing on her rich experience, Fabienne Voisin will cast a fresh and knowledgeable light on the OM and its future growth. Devoted to symphonic music and guided by the desire to make it accessible to as many people as possible, Ms. Voisin has, over the course of the last decade, made it her primary mission to expand dissemination of and access to this art over a wide area, while also remaining focused on audience diversity. She has also run many projects in artistic education and to democratize the symphonic repertoire, also a central thrust of the Orchestre Métropolitain’s mission.

A rich musical background
After studying music at the Conservatoire de Lyon and the Conservatoire Boulogne-Billancourt, Fabienne Voisin embarked on a management studies program to master all aspects of concert organization. She also deepened her knowledge of general culture, political science, and tax law. On completing her studies, she worked with a production company that organizes two festivals and more than 200 concerts a year, before joining the Orchestre national d‘Île-de-France to produce and promote concerts. In 2011, after five years in west Africa, where she focused on musical projects involving nearly 3,000 children, she returned to the Îlede-France orchestra as its CEO.

As she sees it, “music is a witness to history and the universal expression of all life’s emotions. We have a duty to place that within everyone’s reach and create conditions conducive to this sharing.” The OM is confident in her ability to contribute to the Orchestre’s growth and the development of its audience in collaboration with the team currently in place and its artistic director and principal conductor, Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Moving to a country with four very distinct seasons will be, for Fabienne Voisin, an opportunity to take on an exciting professional and human challenge with enthusiasm and determination by plunging into discovering the Quebec cultural scene and a new world. Having already visited Quebec on several occasions, Ms. Voisin has been charmed by the wealth of culture that characterizes the province, and she is keen to become an active contributor to it. Her imminent new take on the Orchestre Métropolitain has already stamped the next chapter of its future and the sharing of many values.

“It is with great pleasure that we welcome Fabienne Voisin as the Orchestre Métropolitain’s new president and CEO. Knowing her commitment, leadership qualities and exceptional career path, I am convinced she will succeed in taking the helm so consummately held by Jean R. Dupré for the last 10 years. An outstanding manager, Jean has made a significant contribution to the growth and success of the OM, which now enjoys an enviable place in the cultural ecosystem at home and abroad. Jean was able to turn around and maintain the Orchestre’s financial health while also giving the ensemble a high profile and ensuring its talented musicians receive proper recognition. Fabienne Voisin is thus taking the reins of a flourishing and ambitious institution. I am delighted she has agreed to join the big OM family and am certain our work together will be productive and long-lasting.”
– Érik J. Ryan, Chair of the Board of Directors, Orchestre Métropolitain

“I am delighted to welcome Fabienne Voisin, a truly exceptional woman, to the team to take up the remarkable work of Jean R. Dupré. Fabienne shares my values and those of the OM regarding the Orchestre’s mission. She will bring an international perspective to that mission and to achieving our ambitious goals.”
– Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Artistic Director and Principal Conductor, Orchestre Métropolitain

“After 11 tremendous years as rich as they were busy at the head of the Orchestre national d‘Île-de-France, I am honoured and excited to embark on the OM adventure alongside Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the musicians and the rest of the team. The Orchestre’s close relationship with Montrealers, its desire to reach out to and embrace the widest possible audience, to share with it the full richness of the repertoire and, through its programming, to imagine a more just and harmonious world: these are all values that matter deeply to me – generous and engaged acts that advance the Orchestre’s ambition and awareness of its place in society. I look forward to helping write its future.”
– Fabienne Voisin