Orchestre national de jazz de Montréal

The Montreal Jazz National Orchestra (ONJ) is a versatile orchestral ensemble ranging from 10 to 45 musicians, encompassing everything from Big Band to the Jazz Studio Orchestra. Depending on the repertoire, it includes wind instruments, string instruments, and percussion instruments. Playing jazz, pop, world music, and film music, the ONJ has shared the stage with artists such as Diane Dufresne, Kim Richardson, Karen Young, Ingrid Jensen, Terence Blanchard, Bendik Hofseth, and Aaron Parks.

The ONJ is equally committed to performing with the new generation of rising stars like Laura Anglade, Jeanne Rochette, Sarah Rossy, and Ariane Racicot, under the direction of conductors such as Jean-Nicolas Trottier, Christine Jensen, Ron Di Lauro, Joe Sullivan, Mathias Rüegg, and Sylvester Uzoma Onyejiaka II. The National Jazz Orchestra seeks to push the boundaries of current jazz and pop orchestral music.

Since its foundation, the ONJ has presented more than 100 concerts, performing over 800 works from the repertoire of more than 90 national and international composers and arrangers.

The ONJ has also commissioned ten works from some of the best talents in the field, including Marianne Trudel, Christine Jensen, Mireille Boily, Jean-Nicolas Trottier, John Hollenbeck, Joe Sullivan, and Jean Derome. Subsequently, it has released five albums featuring the commissioned works and three arrangements by Jean-Nicolas Trottier of pieces by artists such as Wayne Shorter and Miles Davis, Bendik Hofseth (Norway), and Elizabeth Shepherd.

OPUS AWARDS – Albums or Concerts of the Year

  1. “Dans la Forêt de ma Mémoire,” composed by Marianne Trudel – Opus Award Nomination 2016 – Album of the Year
  2. “Under the Influence,” composed by Christine Jensen – Opus Award Winner 2018 – Album of the Year
  3. John Hollenbeck and Theo Bleckmann at the Montreal International Jazz Festival – Opus Award Winner 2018 – Concert of the Year
  4. “The Mystic Mind,” composed by Jean-Nicolas Trottier – Opus Award Nomination 2020 – Album of the Year.
  5. “Laura Anglade chante Jerome Kern,” conducted by Jean-Nicolas Trottier – Opus Award Nomination 2024 – Concert of the Year
  6. “Jeanne Rochette et François Bourassa,” conducted and arranged by Jean-Nicolas Trottier – Opus Award Nomination 2024 – Concert of the Year