The idea for a concert celebrating the vibrant music of Cirque du Soleil found its creative spark during a musical summit held at the same church in 2009. When the Cirque cultivated ideas to celebrate its 30th Anniversary earlier this year, the team reflected upon the strong emotions provided during that summit. Gilles Ste-Croix, one of Cirque’s creative guides, mused: "Cirque du Soleil's music is extremely rich, but it's always supporting the acrobatics. We wanted to offer something more; we wanted to put our music to the fore. This time our music is the star of the evening!"

Ste-Croix worked with Alain Vinet, a DJ, musical producer, and Cirque’s in-house musical director, to create this event. “He’s done a wonderful job over the years,” Ste-Croix said. “So we offered him this possibility of gathering together all the music that covers the 30 years of Cirque du Soleil and putting the whole concept of music and chorus and singers into a format of a concert which will be played live.”

Over the course of three decades, twenty-odd composers wrote and arranged the music for the 35 shows created by Cirque du Soleil since 1984. Drawing their inspiration from world music, rock, jazz or contemporary sounds, the composers have added their own personal signature to each of the 35 productions. CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: LE GRAND CONCERT is the embodiment of that mission.

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: LE GRAND CONCERT brought together eight soloists, accompanied by twenty-eight musicians (led by FrédéricChiasson and Claude Chaput) and seventy choristers. Conducted by Mario Rouleau and produced by Luc Chatelain for Echo Media, this 90 minute musical odyssey - presented on television - took us through the emotion and poetry of the music of each of the 35 shows that Cirque du Soleil has created since 1984.

• Mathieu Lavoie { Career Details }

  Originally from Mascouche, Mathieu Lavoie studied popular music at Collège Lionel-Groulx. After winning the “lauréat interprète” prize at the Festival International de la Chanson de Granby in 1995, he was recruited by Cirque du Soleil at the age of 20 for the creation of its show Quidam in 1996, and then for Varekai in 2002. He continues to work with Cirque today; with 800 performances of Quidam and 650 of Varekai in front of over 2.5 million spectators, his voice can be found on their eponymous albums as well as the DVDs of Varekai and Midnight Sun. Mathieu has taken part in numerous special events all over the world, from Kuwait to Russia to Hong Kong, and also performed on Corteo in Valencia, Spain. Nominated for a Gemini Award in 1998 for his performance at the Governor General’s Performing Arts Awards Gala, he has sung and acted in several Montreal musical reviews and productions. In 2005, Mathieu released his first solo album, Avaler le vent. In 2010, he worked with Cirque Éloize and others on seasons 2, 3 and 4 of the La Vie est un Cirque series on TV5. In 2014, he became known to the general public across Quebec as he reached the quarter-finals of La Voix (The Voice) on TVA.

• Anna Liani { Career Details }

  Anna Liani was born in Quebec but spent much of her childhood in northern Italy, other parts of Canada and the island of Réunion in the Indian Ocean. Raised by her grandmother and father, Anna began singing at the age of 10. Now she is an international singer and songwriter. Anna is best known for her great love song “Bello Amore,” which she wrote and sang for the Cirque du Soleil show Zumanity in Las Vegas. She has been involved in the production of various albums with Cirque du Soleil and other major projects presented in London, Italy, Montreal and Las Vegas. Her video “Mamma son tanto felice” has reached over 100,000 views on YouTube. In August 2012, Anna sang in the show Soleils de Nuits before an audience of over 65,000. The following November, she released the album Natale sulla Luna. In 2013, Anna featured on the album SKY by composer Simon Carpentier. In August 2014, Anna sang at Montreal’s Italian Week Festival, where she introduced works from her upcoming album.

• Roxane Potvin { Career Details }

  Growing up in Hawkesbury, a small town in eastern Ontario, Roxane was surrounded by music. As a teenager, she earned a spot in the finals of the prestigious Festival International de la Chanson de Granby. She then had the opportunity to work alongside the likes of Bruno Pelletier, Julie Masse, France D’Amour, Ginette Reno and many more as a backing vocalist. In 1997, Roxane voiced various characters in the French-language versions of Beauty and the Beast and Anastasia. Towards the end of that same year, she successfully auditioned to sing for Cirque du Soleil. In 1998, she packed her bags for Las Vegas, where she would spend the next decade gracing the magnificent stage as the lead singer in “O”. She has also occasionally worked as a vocal coach and talent scout for Cirque du Soleil on request. Having returned to Canada, Roxane’s adventure with Cirque du Soleil continues.

• Dominic Dagenais { Career Details }

  Multidisciplinary, multitalented Montreal artist Dominic Dagenais is a singer-songwriter, composer, multi-instrumentalist and acrobat. Starting off as a singer and guitarist on the local scene as part of various musical projects, including Omegadom, with which he took part in the Francofolies de Montréal in 2007. He was also a semi-finalist at the Festival International de la Chanson de Granby in 2010. A former champion trampolinist, Dominic joined Productions Haut-Vol as an acrobat in the late 1990s, where he also composed his first show soundtracks. During this time, he began working with Debra Brown, developing a truly unique skill: the trampoline guitar solo. Having worked with Cirque du Soleil since 2003, Dominic has contributed to numerous major productions, including Quebec City’s 400th anniversary celebrations, the Poetic Social Mission for ONE DROP and Les Chemins Invisibles. As a creator of music for two decades, his credits include soundtracks for shows such as XTREM for Zinc Productions in 2013, Ritmos de la Noche in collaboration with Debra Brown and René Dupéré in 2012, and the fourth chapter of Les Chemins Invisibles by Cirque du Soleil in collaboration with Francis Collard and Béatrice Bonifassi.

• Audrey Brisson { Career Details }

  Audrey trained at the Central School of Speech and Drama and studied classical singing at Cégep de Saint-Laurent. During her childhood and teenage years, Audrey worked extensively with Cirque du Soleil as a vocalist and acrobat, performing on their international tours of Le Cirque réinventé and Quidam. Theatre includes: Midnight’s Pumpkin and The Wild Bride (Kneehigh—UK tour / San Francisco / New Zealand); Miss Hedgehog in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe (Kensington Gardens); Midnight’s Pumpkin and The Wild Bride (Battersea Arts Centre / Berkeley Repertory Theatre, California / St. Ann’s Warehouse, New York); The Elephantom (National Theatre); and Dead Dog in a Suitcase (and Other Love Songs) (Kneehigh). Film includes: Hereafter directed by Clint Eastwood and W.E. directed by Madonna. Television includes: Money (BBC).

• Francine Poitras { Career Details }

  Hailing from New Brunswick, Francine Poitras studied piano and dramatic arts before completing a bachelor’s degree in classical singing at Université Laval. She then travelled to New York, Santa Barbara and Paris to hone her craft. In 1989, Francine met composer René Dupéré, lending her voice to the Nouvelle Expérience album. In 1992, she became the first singing character at Cirque du Soleil, in Saltimbanco. Working with Dupéré, she helped to develop Cirque’s hallmark “invented language.” She travelled the world with this production, playing the role of the bird woman on stage. Since then, Francine has contributed to many of Cirque’s special projects in Europe, South Africa, Russia, Scandinavia, South America and beyond. At the same time, she has taken part in numerous film and theatre productions while also developing personal projects such as her tribute to Joni Mitchell, Woman of Heart and Mind. In 2007, she produced Espacios lntimos, a show and an album showcasing Latin- American songs and compositions. Today, after so many years on the road, Francine pursues her career and shares her experience from her home base in Granby. She has established a welcoming and intimate space, La Maison qui Chante, for teaching, creation and collaboration.

• Estelle Esse { Career Details }

  Although she is a pianist by training, Estelle is a versatile artist and her voice quickly became her instrument of choice. She began by singing backup on stage, on screen and on record for top artists such as Roch Voisine, Sass Jordan and Dan Bigras while pursuing her own solo career. In the 1990s, with a greater focus on musical theatre, she played a variety of singing roles in productions of Pied de Poule by Marc Drouin, Cabaret Neiges Noires, Lolita and L’Odyssée by Dominic Champagne and Beauté Féroce by Victor-Lévy Beaulieu. More recently, she has appeared in the musical comedies Neuf and Sister Act directed by Denise Filiatrault. She also teaches singing and vocal technique, and regularly works as a coach and consultant on musical comedies such as Cabaret (Juste pour Rire), L’Opéra de Quat’Sous (TNM), Une Vie presque normale (Théâtre du Rideau Vert) and Géronimo Stilton (HumanID). With a background like hers, it was only natural that Estelle would team up with Cirque du Soleil, for which she has worked as a singer, vocal coach and talent scout since June 2000. She has sung on the European and American tours of Dralion, Alegría, Corteo and, most recently, KURIOS and travelled to every continent as a vocal coach on most of Cirque’s shows.

• Paul Bisson { Career Details }

  Paul Bisson is a singer-songwriter and musician born in Asbestos, Quebec, on April 5, 1963. After years of composing music for commercials, in 1998 Paul debuted on the international scene as a singer in the musical comedy La vie en bleu with Robert Hossein in Paris and Monaco. He was then approached by Luc Plamondon in 1999 to play Quasimodo on the Canadian tour of Notre-Dame de Paris. In 2000, he reprised the role of Quasimodo in the American version, staged at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. In Montreal in 2002, he joined the cast of Roméo et Juliette to play three roles in rotation. In 2004, Paul worked as a composer, arranger, musician and vocal coach on the Denise Filiatrault production Ma vie en cinémascope. In 2005, Paul joined Cirque du Soleil as the lead singer on the international tour of Corteo. He has also composed the music for several international circus acts, including Flight of Passion, which was awarded the Golden Clown at the Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival in 2009. In 2010, after working with Michel Cusson on the Shanghai production of Kaleido, he took on the lead singing role of Zark in Zarkana by Cirque du Soleil in New York, Madrid and Moscow and then Las Vegas in 2012.

Although devoid of any acrobatic numbers, most costuming, and the many other accoutrements associated with a regular live performance, Cirque du Soleil did choose to illustrate its evolution through story-form. HereZoe, the little girl from Quidam (Audrey Brisson-Justras), acts as our guide as we follow her through different stages of her life.

1. "Ouverture" | CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
   Soloist: None
   
   
2. "Atmadja & Reveil" | QUIDAM
   Soloist: Audrey Brison-Justras
   
   
3. "Le Funambule" | CIRQUE REINVENTE
   Soloist: None
   
   
4. "HaviVahlia" | NOUVELLE EXPERIENCE
   Soloist: Roxane Potvin
   
   
5. "Pokinoi" | SALTIMBANCO
   Soloist: Francine Poitras
   
   
6. "Ulysse" | MYSTERE
   Soloists: Mathieu Lavoie, Francine Poitras, Roxane Potvin
   
   
7. "Kalimando" | MYSTERE
   Soloists: Audrey Brisson-Jutras, Estelle Esse
   
   
8. "VaiVedrai" | ALEGRIA
   Soloist: Francine Poitras
   
   
9. "Seisouso" | QUIDAM
   Soloisst: Audrey Brisson-Jutras, Mathieu Lavoie
   
   
10. "Reve Rouge" | LA NOUBA
    Soloists: Paul Bisson, Estelle Esse
    
    
11. "Nostalgie" & "Bridge of Sorrow" | “O” & DELIRIUM
    Soloist: Roxane Potvin
    
    
12. "Ravendhi" | DRALION
    Soloists: Paul Bisson, Dominic Dagenais, Estelle Esse, Francine Poitras
    
    
13. "Patzivota" | VAREKAI
    Soloists: Paul Bisson, Dominic Dagenais, Estelle Esse, Mathieu Lavoie, Francine Poitras, Roxane Potvin
    
    
14. "Mio Bello Bello Amore" | ZUMANITY
    Soloist: Anna Liani
    
    
15. "Aftermath" | KA
    Soloist: Audrey Brisson-Jutras
    
    
16. "Volo Volando" | CORTEO
    Soloist: Paul Bisson
    
    
17. "Because" | THE BEATLES LOVE
    Soloists: Paul Bisson, Estelle Esse, Mathieu Lavoie, Anna Liani, Francine Poitras, Roxane Potvin
    
    
18. "Don't Be Afraid" | KOOZA
    Soloists: Audrey Brisson-Jutras, Dominic Dagenais
    
    
19. "Shadows" | WINTUK
    Soloists: Audrey Brisson-Jutras, Anna Liani, Roxane Potvin
    
    
20. "Kayala and the Poppies" | BELIEVE
    Soloist: Francine Poitras
    
    
21. "Ardor Oris" | ZAIA
    Soloist: Francine Poitras
    
    
22. "Hymn of the Worlds" | ZED
    Soloists: Estelle Esse, Mathieu Lavoie, Roxane Potvin
    
    
23. "Brisa do Mar" | OVO
    Soloist: Mathieu Lavoie
    
    
24. "The Snake Dance" | BANANA SHPEEL
    Solosists: Audrey Brisson-Jutras, Estelle Esse, Anna Liani, Roxane Potvin
    
    
25. "Love Me Tender" | VIVA ELVIS
    Soloists: Dominic Dagenais, Anna Liani
    
    
26. "Cum SanctoSpiritu" | TOTEM
    Soloists: Estelle Esse, Mathieu Lavoie, Roxane Potvin
    
    
27. "Libra" | ZARKANA
    Soloist: Paul Bisson
    
    
28. "Earth Song" | MJ IMMORTAL
    Soloists: Paul Bisson, Dominic Dagenais, Estelle Esse, Mathieu Lavoie, Anna Liani, Francine Poitras, Roxane Potvin
    
    
29. "Scarlett Balancing" | IRIS
    Soloist: None
    
    
30. "Whisper" | AMALUNA
    Soloists: Paul Bisson, Estelle Esse, Mathiew Lavoie, Francine Poitras, Roxane Potvin
    
    
31. "Creature of Light" | AMALUNA
    Soloists: Paul Bisson, Audrey Brisson-Jutras, Mathieu Lavoie, Anna Liani, Francine Poitras, Roxane Potvin
    
    
32. "Creature de Siam" | KURIOS
    Soloist: Estelle Esse
    
    
33. "Taruka" | ALEGRIA
    Soloist: None
    
    
34. "Alegria" | ALEGRIA
    Soloists: Paul Bisson, Audrey Brisson-Jutras, Dominic Dagenais, Estelle Esse, Mathiew Lavoie, Anna Liani, Francine Poitras, Roxane Potvin
    
    
35. "Kumbalawe" | SALTIMBANCO
    Soloists: Paul Bisson, Audrey Brisson-Jutras, Dominic Dagenais, Estelle Esse, Mathiew Lavoie, Anna Liani, Francine Poitras, Roxane Potvin