Francine Nguyen-Savaria
Francine Nguyen-Savaria is an organist and choirmaster from Montreal, Quebec. She is active on the North American scene both as a soloist and as a member of Duo Pergulæ, a duo that she forms with her husband Matthieu Latreille. Her organ repertoire ranges from Renaissance music to Contemporary music, with a preference for the French school of the 19th and 20th centuries.
She holds a bachelor's degree in organ performance from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal where she studied with Jean Le Buis before pursuing her studies with Cherry Rhodes at the University of Southern California where she graduated with a Graduate Certificate in Organ Performance in 2013. Several scholarships and prizes including the Lorna Holmes and John Goss scholarships from the Royal Canadian College of Organists enabled her to participate in the Mount Royal College Organ Academy in Calgary and further training courses with Jean Galard in Paris. She was also the recipient of a second prize at the Stanley Osborne Organ Competition and the Canadian Music Competition.
In 2014, Francine performed Johannes Brahms' complete organ work at the Calgary Organ Festival and Symposium, and performed with the Calgary Civic Orchestra at the same festival. She has also performed at various venues including Saint Joseph's Oratory in Montreal, at the Episcopal Cathedral Center of Saint Paul and at Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles.
She was Music Director for Saint Ambrose Episcopal Church in Claremont, California from 2011 to 2013. She and Matthieu Latreille founded the St. Thomas' Choral Academy, a programme attached to St. Thomas Anglican Church in Belleville, Ontario. They ran the academy until 2019. Back in the greater Montreal area, the couple now devote themselves to their concert career and to teaching. They direct the Aœde concert society and regularly perform across the country, in addition to producing videos which are available on their YouTube channels. Their concert calendar is available on their website: www.organduo.com/concerts.
Francine also has a passion for dance. She enjoys collaborating with dancers and dances as a hobby.