In the 2026/27 season, Rivard will lead Mahler’s Symphony No. 1, Handel’s Messiah, and Verdi’s La traviata with the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, among other programs. He will make his debut with the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Handel’s Messiah. In May 2027, he will return to the podium at Opéra de Montréal for a new production of Verdi’s Rigoletto, featuring an all‑star cast.
Rivard has conducted orchestras across North America and Europe, including the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Orchestre symphonique de Québec, the Toronto Summer Music Festival Orchestra, the Verbier Festival Chamber Orchestra (Switzerland), the Lapland Chamber Orchestra (Finland), and the Göteborgs Symfoniker (Sweden). Passionate about the operatic repertoire, he served as Music Director of Edmonton Opera from 2023 to 2026. In addition, he teaches orchestral conducting at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.
He has collaborated with artists such as Barbara Hannigan, Kerson Leong, Daniel Lozakovich, Matt Haimovitz, Charles Richard‑Hamelin, and Julie Boulianne, among others. In 2022, he was a finalist at the Princess Astrid International Music Competition of the Trondheim Symphony Orchestra (Norway). He continues to champion contemporary music through his work with The Happenstancers, performing pieces by Unsuk Chin, Steve Reich, Matthew Ricketts, and Nahre Sol.
From 2018 to 2022, he was Resident Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, where he was mentored by Gustavo Gimeno and Sir Andrew Davis. He has assisted and served as cover conductor for leading artists including Gianandrea Noseda, Sir Donald Runnicles, Jukka‑Pekka Saraste, John Storgårds, Barbara Hannigan, and Eun‑sun Kim. From 2018 through 2024, he was Conductor of the Toronto Symphony Youth Orchestra, and from 2020 to 2022, Associate Conductor of the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir.
An alumnus of Equilibrium Young Artists (2019–2023), Barbara Hannigan’s mentorship program, Rivard was invited in 2018 to participate in the inaugural Conducting Mentorship Program at the Verbier Festival Academy (Switzerland), where he received a Special Prize. He was subsequently invited to coach the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra in 2022.
Born in Montréal, Rivard studied violin performance and orchestral conducting at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and McGill University. His mentors include Raffi Armenian, Alexis Hauser, Guillaume Bourgogne, and Jean‑Sébastien Vallée.
