Student of Richard Raymond at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal, Julien Gagné has distinguished himself in several competitions. He won first place at Cégeps en Concert, the Grand Prize in the 15–18 category at the Classival competition, the Grand Prize at the Festival-concours de musique de Sherbrooke, and the Grand Prize in the 19-and-over category at the Canadian Music Competition. He also received first prize at the National Piano Competition of the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers’ Associations. In addition, his jury-acclaimed performances led him to be selected as a finalist at the “Città di San Donà di Piave” International Piano Competition in Italy for the 2025 edition.
In 2023, at the Concours de musique de la Capitale, he earned first place in both the piano solo and piano concerto categories, as well as the Violons du Roy foundation prize, which gave him the opportunity to perform with the renowned orchestra in March 2024. He has also appeared as a soloist with the Sherbrooke Youth Symphony Orchestra (2022), the University of Sherbrooke Orchestra (2023), and the Sinfonia de Lanaudière (2024). Furthermore, he has refined his artistry in masterclasses with André Laplante, Benedetto Lupo, Christian Blackshaw, Ronan O’Hora, Charles Richard-Hamelin, Henry Kramer, Jean Saulnier, and Éric Lesage. He has also studied with Line Villeneuve and Tristan Longval-Gagné.
