The violinist Martin Chalifour. (Photo: LA Phil website)
The Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra, the LA Philannounces by press release that its principal concertmaster, the Quebec violinist Martin Chalifourwill retire at the end of the current season.
Born in Rosemont and trained at the Vincent-d’Indy School and the Montreal Conservatory of Music, Martin Chalifour went to the United States at age 18 to study at the Curtis Institute under Jascha Brodsky and David Cerone. He also received lessons from Ivan Galamian at the Meadowmount School of Music, the summer school founded by the legendary violinist.
In 1986, while he was already associate concertmaster of the Atlanta Orchestra, Chalifour attracted international attention by making it to the second round of the 1986 Moscow Tchaikovsky Competition, earning himself a certificate of honor. The following year, he won the Montreal International Musical Competition.
After the Atlanta Orchestra, Chalifour moved to the Cleveland Orchestra. It was in 1995 that he became concertmaster of the Los Angeles Orchestra, making him the longest-serving concertmaster with this orchestra. The LA Phil is also highlighting its thirty years of service this year with three concerts. Surprisingly, during this remarkably long tenure, he only had two musical directors at the orchestra, Esa-Pekka Salonen et Gustavo Dudamel.
“It has been an honor and privilege to have Martin Chalifour as concertmaster throughout my tenure at the LA Phil. He is a role model for the orchestra every day with his skill, good taste, knowledge, reliable work and deep love of music. I am very grateful to be able to count on Martin for another season, and wish him all the happiness in the world in the new chapter of life that opens before him. » – Gustavo Dudamel, music director, LA Phil (my translation from English)
The latest performances of Chalifour in Quebec dates back to before the pandemic: in 2017, he returned to teach at Domaine Froget and the following year, he played in concert with theLaval Symphony Orchestra and in recital with Blake Pouliot et Bernadena Blahawhile he was an ambassador for the Canadian Music Competition. A few years earlier, in 2009, he accepted the invitation of theMontreal Youth Symphony Orchestra to play the Concerto for violin of Mendelssohn under the baton of Louis Lavigueur.
Alongside his engagements with the orchestra, Martin Chalifour performs as a soloist and chamber musician. He teaches at Caltech and the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California (USC), but his faculty profile on the USC website states that he is no longer accepting new students since fall 2023.
Concerts to celebrate thirty years as concertmaster
The LA Phil honors his faithful solo violin with three concerts, the first of which, Celebrating 30 years with Martin Chalifour, is a chamber music concert including Beethoven’s Septet and the creation of a duo for violin and viola by Celka Ojakangas. On April 10, 2025, Chalifour will perform The four seasons of Vivaldi under the direction of Nicholas McGegan and on July 25, he will once again be the soloist for The Lark Ascending de Vaughan Williams au Hollywood Bowl.
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Passionate about the symphony orchestra and the mediation of music, Béatrice is trained in musical interpretation (viola and conducting) at the Conservatoire de musique de Québec, at Laval University and at the École supérieure de musique et de theater in Hannover (Germany). She also holds a master’s degree in musicology from the University of Montreal. She is regularly called upon as a musical advisor and assistant director for transmissions and recordings of concerts by the largest ensembles in Montreal and at the Lanaudière International Festival.
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