Canadian Violinist Forced To End Career Following Injury

Angèle Dubeau — Angèle Dubeau Photo: courtesy of the artist

After five decades on stage, Québécois violinist, broadcaster, and conductor Angèle Dubeau announced her retirement last week due to a debilitating finger injury.

Quoi de neuf?: Last week, the Québécois violinist Angèle Dubeau announced her retirement due to permanent nerve damage in her right index finger. After consulting numerous specialists, Dubeau learned that her finger had suffered permanent damage caused by the pressure of her instrument. The prominent violinist addressed the public in a letter in Le Journal de Montréal as well as in a video published on Facebook announcing her retirement.

Playing catch-up: Angèle Dubeau was born in Saint-Norbert, Quebec in 1962. She performed her first concert at the age of 6, won numerous competitions, and pursued studies at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, the Juilliard School, and in Romania with the violinist Stefan Gheorghiu. A household name in Quebec, Dubeau hosted a series of broadcast programs in the 1990s for Radio-Canada. She founded the Tremblant Music Festival as well as the all-female string group La Pietà, with whom she has released numerous albums and toured internationally. Dubeau’s albums have sold more than 65 thousand copies.

Angèle Dubeau is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Knight of the Order of Quebec. Her 1733 “Des Rosiers” Stradivarius Violin was classified as a national heritage item by former Quebec premier René Levesque. We wish her all the best in her bittersweet retirement and in the next phase of her career. Merci pour la belle musique.

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Sara Schabas

Sara Schabas is a Dora-nominated soprano, writer and yoga teacher. She has performed and created leading roles with companies including Vancouver Opera, Pacific Opera Victoria, the Dayton Opera, and Aspen Opera, and is a former member of Barbara Hannigan’s Equilibrium Young Artists. Currently based in Montreal, she is a doctoral student at McGill University — where she recently received the Wirth Vocal Prize — and editor of Art Song Canada magazine.