She is a violinist born in Montreal, Quebec who began to learn the violin when she was three years old and went on to study at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montreal and was the first prize winner in chamber music and violin. She took further studies at Rice University where she earned her Master of Music and has since gained a distinction in competitions such as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and the Canadian Music competitions.
She joined up with the New York String Orchestra Seminar and was a student at Santa Barbara’s Academy of the West and went to Austria to participate at Leonfelden’s Summer Academy.
She has been invited to join the Honololu Symphony Orchestra and Les Violins du Roy and in 2006 became a member of the First Violin Section of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, later gaining the position of Interim Concertmaster. She has also been a resident musician of the C’mon Ensemble at the C’mon Festival.
As a soloist she has featured with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra and the University of Alberta Symphony Orchestra and given recital performances.
As a chamber musician she is a co-founding member of the Polyphonie String Quartet and has also performed with the Edmonton Recital Society, the Enterprise Quartet and the Alberta Baroque Ensemble.
In the field of musical education she has been a strings music teacher.
Sources:
- https://www.polyphoniestringquartet.com/about
- http://www.ethanfilner.com/schedule/2020/2/21/polyphonie-quartet-performs-on-eso-perfect-pairings
- http://www.guillaume.tardif.com/enterprise/virginiegagne.html
- https://scholarship.rice.edu/handle/1911/95050?show=full
- https://www.winspearcentre.com/tommy-banks-centre/music-teacher-directory/strings/virginie-gagne/
- https://edmontonjournal.com/entertainment/music/edmonton-symphony-orchestra-unveils-new-season
- https://yeglive.ca/events/edmonton-symphony-orchestra/aug-16-2011/winspear-centre
- https://bmcnews.org/story/cmon-festival-moves-to-mccauley