Jacques Lacombe, O.C., O.Q., Artistic Director
Resident of Montreal, Jacques Lacombe is originally from Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Québec. From 2017 to 2021, maestro Lacombe was the Artistic Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Mulhouse. Previously, he served as Principal Conductor of the Bonn Opera in Germany from 2016 to 2018 and as Artistic Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières from 2006 to 2018. He was also the Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra from 2010 to 2016 and the principal guest conductor of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal from 2002 to 2006.
In addition to collaborating with numerous orchestras across North America, including in Boston, Cincinnati, Dallas and Montreal, Jacques Lacombe has conducted in Europe with the Orchestre National de France, the Orchestre Lamoureux, and orchestras in Malaga, Monte Carlo, Nancy, Nice, Seville and Toulouse, as well as many orchestras in Oceania and Asia.
He has performed at the world’s most important opera houses, including the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Bayerisches Staatsoper in Munich, the Teatro Regio in Turin, the Deutsche Oper in Berlin, the Opéra National du Rhin and the Opéra National de Lorraine, as well as opera houses in Avignon, Marseille, Metz, Nantes, Angers, Monaco and Seville.
For more information on maestro Lacombe’s career, please visit his website : www.jacqueslacombe.com
Taras Kulish, Executive Director
A native Montrealer of Ukrainian heritage, Taras speaks five languages and has over 30 years of experience in the music industry. For 18 years, he was a professional opera singer who performed with opera companies all over North America and Europe. Since 2005, Taras is now passionately focused on arts management.
Taras was the Executive director of the OCM from 2013 to 2016, then returned to the organization since 2018. He was the Interim Artistic Director at Calgary Opera from 2016 to 2018. From 2013 to 2016 when Taras was the Executive Director of the McGill Chamber Orchestra, the organization doubled its budget in less than three years and erased its deficit. Taras continues this strong work with the OCM until present day.
From 2005 to 2012, Taras was the founding Artistic Director of the Green Mountain Opera Festival, a successful regional opera festival based in Central Vermont. He built this festival from the ground up, acquiring a strong hands-on approach to producing opera at the highest possible level. He quickly built an excellent reputation in the industry by presenting quality productions of the most popular works featuring renowned artists. Under Taras’ leadership, this successful organization tripled its budget while remaining fiscally prudent.
Taras studied Economics at Concordia University in Montreal, a Bachelor of music at McGill’s Schulich School of Music and a master’s level opera diploma at the University of Toronto.
For more information on Taras’ career, please visit his personal website: www.TarasKulish.com
