Etienne LaFrance

KCBASS History: Etienne has come to KCBassworkshop many years and is head faculty on teaching the advanced Rabbath course every year. His amazing energy and abilities to teach Rabbath techniques and more make him a highly sought after faculty member. Etienne also was a faculty member at George Vance workshops in Washington D.C. as well as a mainstay faculty at Domaine Forget.

Etienne LaFrance, double bassist from Québec, Canada, is a curious and passionate artist with eclectic musical tastes. He is intensely interested in developing classical and improvised music and also various forms of world music.

After getting his basic music education in Québec city, he did an internship at the International François Rabbath Institute of Paris where he received the Soloist and Teacher diplomas. Enhancing the transmission of the legacy of the great master and his own experience, he teaches each summer at the Music Academy of the Domaine Forget. He also gives masterclasses abroad, including in Australia and the United States.

His position of Co-Principal bassist with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec allows him to play masterpieces of the great symphonic composers. He is also committed to making the voice of the double bass heard and known. To this end he gives solo concerts and performs original works, transcriptions and his own compositions.

Etienne is also a member of montreal based OKTOECHO, a world music collective. Since 2009, he has had the honor of accompanying many great artists at the Montréal Arabic Festival: Farida Mohammad Ali (Iraq), Lena Chamamian (Syria), Anouar Berrada (Marocco), Amina Alaoui (Marocco), Katia Guerreiro (Portugal), Omar Bashir (Iraq) and Ismaïl Fencioglu (Turkey). Oktoecho also produce various shows like la 5e route bleue, éponyme, orient-tango, arabo-klezmer et côte des pirates.

Active in jazz and improvised music, Etienne is a member of TRIFOLIA, along with pianist Marianne Trudel and percussionist Patrick Graham. The trio won the Québec’s Opus Prize for the Jazz album of the year for their cd «Le Refuge» as well as being nominated in the same category at the Juno Awards. They recently had very successful tours in North America, Europe and China.

Besides music, Etienne loves kayaking and spending time in nature.