Yukari Cousineau

Yukari Cousineau is the principal violin of the Orchestre Métropolitain. A member of the OM since 1998, Yukari first held the position of assistant concertmaster and then associate principal viola.

The daughter of Jean Cousineau, founder of the École Les Petits Violons, Yukari is also a member of the Ensemble Magellan (with Olivier Thouin, Yegor Dyachkov and Jean Saulnier) and the Ensemble Jean Cousineau.

Yukari has been invited to play as a soloist with many Montréal-based ensembles such as the Orchestre de chambre Appassionata, with whom she performed Locatelli’s Violin Concerto No. 12, broadcast live on Radio-Canada. She has also put on some memorable performances as a soloist with the Orchestre Métropolitain, including Berg’s Violin Concerto, “To the Memory of an Angel.”

As a chamber player, she is a member of the Trio Cousineau and the Quatuor Molinari, and has been collaborating with pianist Mateo Creux for many years. In 2008, she founded the Quatuor La Muse. She has been invited to perform at many festivals, including the Festival de Lanaudière, Concerts aux Îles du Bic and Un Été à Bourges, where she has given concerts of works for solo violin. She has also performed in recitals with Yannick Nézet-Séguin, Alvaro Pierri, Jean Saulnier and Julien LeBlanc.

In addition to her work as a performer, she is a visiting professor at the Université de Montréal. She has also taught violin and viola at UQAM for several years, where she is regularly invited to give master classes.