Biography
Violist Eric Soucy enjoys a growing reputation in Europe and North America as a soloist and chamber musician. In his position as principal violist with the Radio Symphony Orchestra Baden-Baden and Freiburg (SWR), he tours the world and makes recordings for Sony Classical, Hänssler and EMI. He has completed solo recordings of Berlioz, Bach, Stamitz, Mozart, Benda and Bartok with the SWR, the Radio Canada Chamber Orchestra, l'Orchestre Royal de chambre de Wallonie, the Quebec Symphony and Les Violons du Roy.
A native of Québec, Eric Soucy earned his "Premier Prix" in viola and chamber music at Le Conservatoire de Musique du Québec. He then moved to Vienna to study with Hatto Beyerle at the Hochschule für Musik with a prestigious scholarship from the Austrian government. Soon after, he won a top prize at the Lionel Tertis Viola Competition in England. Eric was a semi-finalist at the Maurice Vieux Competition and at the Naumburg Competition where he earned special praise from the American critic Jacqueline Jones, of The String Magazine:"...one of the favorites because of his sweeping phrases and rather dusky, plaintive sound...".
Before joining the SWR, Mr. Soucy was assistant principal violist with the Vienna Chamber Orchestra and principal with L'Orchestre Mondial des Jeunesses Musicales, the Canadian Chamber Orchestra, the Quebec Symphony and Les Violons Du Roy that he co-founded with Bernard Labadie.
Eric is an exceptionally fine teacher. He has taught in summer academies in Brugge, Belgium, at Le Domaine Forget in Québec, and has held teaching positions at Le Conservatoire du Québec (1987-1991) and at the University of Karlsruhe (1997-2003). He has organized many international viola symposiums in Québec and Austria.
Soucy founded and directed one of the foremost chamber music festivals in Canada. Le Rendez-Vous Musical de Laterrière is a meeting point for musicians from Europe and America. The festival provides an opportunity to rediscover music from sometimes forgotten composers as well as to indulge in the great chamber music literature.
Along with his busy schedule with the SWR, Eric is frequently invited to perform as a soloist with major European and Canadian orchestras. He is currently looking forward to performances of Bréval's Double Concerto for Flute and Viola with flutist Marc Grauwells and the Orchestre de Chambre Royale de Wallonie. He will also perform the Double Concerto for Clarinet and Viola (with Wolgang Meyer) by Max Bruch.
M. Soucy currently resides near Baden-Baden in south-west Germany with his wife, pianist Sonia Simard and their children, Félix and Isabel. He plays an instrument made by the master violin maker Stefan Hodapp (Offenburg 1998).