JULIE PINSONNEAULT

Organist

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“A revelation”

- Claude Gingras, La Presse

“A remarkable display of virtuosity and musicality”

- Le Côte d’Albâtre

“She impresses with her choice of registration, which takes the audience into another sphere”

-Christiane Franz, Badische Zeitung

BOOKING NOW AVAILABLE
IN THE UNITED STATES
FOR THE 2025-2026 SEASON
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PROJECT
Livre du Saint-Sacrement
Olivier Messiaen

Performing Olivier Messiaen’s Livre du Saint-Sacrement is an opportunity to engage deeply with one of the most spiritually profound and musically complex works in the organ repertoire. Having had the immense privilege of performing this masterpiece on Messiaen’s very own organ at the Église de la Sainte-Trinité in Paris, I developed an even deeper connection to the music, understanding it through the very instrument for which Messiaen himself composed and played.

What draws me particularly to this piece is its ability to merge the sacred and the sensory. Messiaen’s use of harmonies and modes of limited transposition, as well as bird songs creates an otherworldly atmosphere that invites the listener to meditate, reflect, and experience a journey through the Eucharist. For me, performing this work is not just an artistic challenge but also a personal pilgrimage—an exploration of both sound and spirituality.

The sheer scope of the work, with its 18 movements, offers the chance to push my interpretive boundaries as a performer while serving as a vessel for something greater than myself. To perform Livre du Saint-Sacrement is to enter into his world of deep devotion, and I look forward to sharing that transformative experience with an audience.

- Julie Pinsonneault

Le Livre du Saint Sacrement - IX - Les ténèbresJULIE PINSONNEAULT

00:00 / 05:11

Le Livre du Saint Sacrement - X - La Résurrection du ChristJULIE PINSONNEAULT

00:00 / 05:18

Le Livre du Saint Sacrement - XI - L'apparition du Christ Ressuscité à Marie-MadeleineJULIE PINSONNEAULT

00:00 / 14:30

Le Livre du Saint Sacrement - XVIII - Offrande et Alleluia FinalJULIE PINSONNEAULT

00:00 / 07:47

BIOGRAPHY

Hailed as ‘A Revelation’ by La Presse critic Claude Gingras, Canadian organist JULIE PINSONNEAULT currently resides in Germany where she is the Titular Organist at the Universitätskirche of Freiburg-im-Breisgau and the director and founder of the vocal ensemble Ensemble Messiaen in Freiburg. Active as an accompanist, chamber musician, choir and orchestra conductor, she has recently contributed to the direction of several projects in Freiburg-im-Breisgau such as Handel's Messiah, Bach's Magnificat and Christmas Oratorio, as well as Haydn's The Seasons.

Julie Pinsonneault regularly performs as a soloist in North America and Europe. Festivals and concert venues include the Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal (Canada), Pro Organo Ottawa, the Basilique St-Sernin de Toulouse (France), the Église de la Sainte-Trinité de Paris (France), the Oratoire Saint-Joseph de Montréal (Canada), the Cathédrale de Limoges (France), Toulouse les Orgues Organ Festival 2015, Festival des Couleurs de l’orgue Français 2019, Woolsey Hall (New Haven), the Faculty of Music at Harvard University, the Basilique Notre-Dame de Québec (Canada), the Église Saint-Étienne-du-Mont Paris, the Cathedral of Freiburg, Germany (2024), as well as the Philharmonic Orchestra Freiburg (2023).

A member of the younger generation of organists, Julie Pinsonneault received her musical training at several renowned institutions and holds a Bachelor of Music in organ performance from McGill University (Montreal), where she studied under the tutelage of John Grew and Hans-Ola Ericsson. She also completed a master's degree in musicology and organ at the Institut Supérieur des Arts de Toulouse (France) and at the Université Toulouse-Jean Jaurès with Michel Bouvard and Jan Willem Jansen (organ). Additionally, she holds both a bachelor's and master's degree in church music (organ and choir/orchestral conducting) from the Hochschule für Musik Freiburg (Germany). During the 2016–2017 academic year, she pursued her studies at Yale University, where she studied under the guidance of Thomas Murray and taught the organ as a secondary instrument. In addition, she has served as the organist and choir director of Berkeley Divinity School.

Julie Pinsonneault has been the recipient of several scholarships and awards, including the 2014 Godfrey Hewitt Memorial Scholarship offered by the Royal Canadian College of Organists, as well as the 2017 Forsyth Scholarship offered by Knox Presbyterian Church Ottawa. In May 2011, she won the First Prize at the Lynnwood Farnam Organ Competition in Montreal, and in 2013, was also the winner of a Special Prize at the Mikael Tariverdiev International Organ Competition (Russia).

In May 2024, Julie Pinsonneault will accompany the Freiburger Kammerchor for a Cathedral Concert Tour in Bremen, Hamburg, and Verden featuring works exclusively by women composers.