Musical director

Brent Besner is a graduate of McGill University and the Université de Montréal in clarinet performance. He is a recipient of the Debut: Young Artist Series Award, the Canadian Music Centre Award for Europe, and has received scholarships from the Merrill Lynch Foundation and the Evelyn S. Nef Foundation, both of which were accompanied by an invitation to participate in the Boston Symphony's Tanglewood Music Center.

He has been a soloist with the Tanglewood Music Centre Orchestra, the McGill University Clarinet Choir and Contemporary Ensemble, the 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron Band of the Canadian Armed Forces, the Seaway Winds Orchestra, and has performed with numerous professional orchestras including the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, and the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa. As a substitute musician with the OSM, Mr. Besner has performed in major concert halls across Canada, the United States, Japan, China, Germany, Belgium, France, Austria and South Korea.

Mr. Besner has conducted the McGill University Clarinet Choir, the Lakeshore Concert Band, the 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron Band, the Montreal Pops Orchestra, the Lachine Concert Band, and since 2009, he has been the Music Director of the 306 (Maple Leaf) Wing Band, with whom he has toured New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island.

In 2022, he successfully completed the D.E.S.S. in Arts Management at HEC Montreal. For the past few years, Mr. Besner has put his experience and expertise to good use in the classical music community with non-profit organizations such as the Sinfonia de Lanaudière, Jeunesses Musicales Canada and the I Musici Chamber Orchestra of Montreal.