Specializing in Baroque flute, Grégoire Jeay frequently performs in Quebec and Canada and has also played in France, Belgium, Mexico, Turkey, the UK, and the US. He is recognized for his musicality and expressiveness, as well as for his great skills in ornamentation and improvisation. His virtuosity on the transverse flute is paralleled only by his abilities on the recorder and various flutes from around the world. Indeed, in addition to baroque music, he is interested in a variety of musical styles such as medieval, Irish, Arab-Andalusian, Sephardic, and has participated in several concerts and recordings with some of these specialized music ensembles.

Jeay is a member of several prominent early music ensembles, with which he regularly performs and records, including Tafelmusik of Toronto, Clavecin en Concert, Les Idées heureuses, Theatre of Early Music, Les Voix humaines, Les Boréades, Ensemble Caprice, La Mandragore, Constantinople, and La Nef.

He has performed with many internationally renowned artists, notably Karina Gauvin, Phillipe Sly, Suzie LeBlanc, Emma Kirkby, Marie-Josée Lord, Hélène Guilmette, Philippe Sly, Daniel Taylor, Luc Beauséjour, Sylvain Bergeron, Simon Standage, Olivier Brault, and Hendrik Bouman.

Grégoire Jeay has composed several pieces for various instruments, including a triple concerto for flute, violin, harpsichord and orchestra, Aiga – Faros, commissioned by the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, which received excellent reviews (Globe & Mail) at the time of its creation in January 2014.  His instrumental compositions have been performed at the Maison de la culture de Montreal (Violia for gamba alone, and Variation on the Folia for solo flute) as well as various compositions for the La Mandragore ensemble.

Jeay has composed and produced several soundtracks for various live painting musical performances, television series, a European circus (Gilbert Gruss) and more recently for a Chinese circus. In addition, he wrote a play for young audiences (The Visitor with the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada) whose main subject is the discovery of baroque music.

The flute has transformed drastically since humans created and began playing the instrument at least 40,000 years ago. I am not talking about evolution here, since reed flutes have a unique personality and can produce sounds that embody an expressivity that even modern flutes cannot replicate. Travelling through the universe of flutes, if we simply focus on the difference between what a bevel and a mouth edge can accomplish in separating an air column, we will encounter a myriad of instrumental variations:

flageolets, bamboo flutes, reeds, tibia deer, pan flutes, kenas, nays, kayals, cylindrical flutes, harmonic flutes, fujara, shakuhachi, ocarinas, baroque and renaissance flutes.

Grégoire Jeay, surrounded by other musicians, offers various concerts and notably provides beautiful music for a wide array of events. He performs in duos, trios, quartets, and more.

the flutes

Tafelmusik de Toronto, La Nef, Les Idées Heureuses, Theatre of Early Music, L’Ochestre Baroque de Montréal, La bande Montréal Baroque, Trinity Consort de Portland, Trinity Baroque Orchestra de New York, Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, Les Voix Humaines, Ensemble La Volta, La Nouvelle Sinfonie, La Manragore, Skye Consort, Les Boréades, Masques, Ensemble Caprice, Constantinople, Ottawa baroque Consort.

Karina Gauvin, Suzie Leblanc, Emma Kirkby, Marie-Josée Lord, Hélène Guilmette, Daniel Taylor, Michael Slattery, Shannon Mercer, Matthew White, Marie Nicole Lemieux, Monika Mauch, Rufus Müller, Nancy Argenta, Nathalie Paulin, Catherine Webster, Ingried Boussaroque, Michael Chance, Charles Daniel, Frédéric Antoun, Nathaniel Watson.

Julian Wachner, Hervé Niquet, Eric Milnes, Jeanne Lamon, Ivars Taurins, David Fallis, Andrew Parrot, Matthias Maute, Jean-François Rivest, Alexander Weimann, Joël Thiffault.

uc Beauséjour, Olivier Brault, Hendrik Bouman, Simon Standage, Sylvain Bergeron, Eric Milnes, Geneviève Soly, Alexander Weimann, Joël Thiffault, Marie-Nathalie Lacoursière, Juan-Manuel Quintana, Susie Napper, Hélène Plouffe, Réjean Poirier, Francis Colpron, Amanda Keesmaat, Isabelle Bozzini, Adrian Butterfield, François Taillefer, Andrew Wells-Oberegger, Sean Dagher. Matthew Jennejohn, Amanda Keesmaat, (Violoncelle baroque)