Winner of the 3rd prize at the 107th edition (2018) of the famous Prix d'Europe in Montreal, Antoine is currently pursuing a career as a pianist and music researcher. He is currently enrolled in the very limited program of Doctorate of Music: Research and Practice of the National Conservatory of Music and Dance of Paris in partnership with Sorbonne University under the direction of pianist Denis Pascal. His research directed by Philippe Cathé focuses on the works for piano and chamber music of the French composer Gabriel Pierné (1863-1937). He received a scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) for the duration of his thesis project. Winner of second prize at the Bradshaw & Buono International Piano Competition in New York (2015), he was a quarter-finalist at the Jinji Lake International Piano Competition in Suzhou, China and was a semi-finalist at the 67th Wideman International Piano Competition in Louisiana (USA). 

 

  As a concert performer, Antoine counts among his important performances a recital at the Weill Recital Hall of Carnegie Hall, a performance at Koerner Hall (Toronto), a recital at the Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur (Montreal) . His recital-reading "In the footsteps of Gabriel Pierné" was performed in Quebec several times in 2019. Antoine performed with the Orchester symphonique de Longueuil, the Orchester symphonique de Laval, the Sinfonia de Montréal and Cathedral Bluffs Toronto Symphony Orchestra. He was also invited to play, in Canadian premiere, the Piano Concerto by Gabriel Pierné with the Orchester Philharmonia Mundi de Montréal. A sought-after chamber musician, in the summer of 2019 he founded the Duo Gabriel Pierné with Quebec violinist Marie-Claire Vaillancourt, showcasing the French repertoire of La Belle Époque.

 

  Antoine Laporte holds a bachelor's degree, an artist diploma, a master'degree in music crowned with the prize in piano as well as a diploma from the advanced training course of the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal. Pianists Suzanne Goyette and Richard Raymond were his main teachers. In May 2018, he completed an artist diploma with a full scholarship to the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto in the class of the famous pianist and pedagogue John O'Conor

 

  Antoine received master classes from great pianists such as Louis Lortie, Leon Fleisher, Michel Béroff, Nicolai Lugansky, Robert McDonald, André Laplante, Stéphane Lemelin, Ronan O'Hora, John Perry and Anton Nel. He has participated as a scholarship holder in summer academies in Canada; the Orford Academy and the Domaine Forget Academy, and abroad; the Beethoven Bootcamp at the Royal Irish Academy of Music in Dublin with the pianist and at the Adamant School of Music (Vermont, USA) with John O'Conor, and then at the 19th International Piano Week in Wavre (Belgium), under the direction of Diane Andersen. A grant holder from the Meyer Foundation, he also received a grant from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) to do a residency with pianist Jean-Paul Sévilla in Normandy. More recently, he obtained a scholarship from the Etrillard Foundation in France for his doctoral project which highlights European heritage.

 

His first solo album (February 2016), including works by Brahms, Scriabin and Walter Boudreau, among others, was well received by the public. In December 2021, thanks to a fundraising campaign on the Kickstarter platform and a grant from the CALQ, he launched on digital platforms (Apple music, Spotify Amazon Music, etc...) and in physical version the album double Gabriel Pierné, Album Leaf which received excellent reviews. (Five stars in La Scena Musicale, PanM360, The Whole Note). The album is a finalist for the Opus 26 Prize in the categoryAlbum of the Year – Classical, Romantic, Post-Romantic and Impressionist Music  and is physically distributed in Europe under the Continuo Classics label. Excerpts have also been broadcast on Ici Musique, Radio-Canada music channel, on CBC music, on Radio Classique Montréal CJPX and on Radio Classique in France. Antoine currently lives at  ARPEJ Eole Residence in the 19th arrondissement of Paris.

December 2022