2024 Live Adjudicators

Maxime Despax

Upper Strings

Maxime Despax

Canadian violist Maxime Despax is an engaged chamber and orchestral musician. Currently, he is pursuing a Doctor of Musical Arts degree at the University of Toronto where he also completed a Master's degree in Viola Performance under the tutelage of Teng Li. Originally from Gatineau, Quebec, he has studied at the Conservatoire de Musique de Gatineau and the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal with Emmanuel Beaudet and Jocelyne Bastien. Maxime has performed alongside many distinguished musicians such as the New Orford String Quartet, the Gryphon Trio, Rob Kapilow, Krisztina Szabó, Philip Chiu, Alex Kerr, and Yehonatan Berick. He has also performed as a soloist with the Orchestre du Conservatoire de Musique de Gatineau, as well as the Indiana University Summer String Academy Chamber
Orchestra.

An avid chamber musician, Maxime is an active member of the Quatuor Despax, a family string quartet that tours extensively throughout Canada, as well as internationally in France, Italy, and Colombia. Furthermore, Maxime is a founding member of the Interro String Quartet, which is based in Toronto and performs in the Greater Toronto Area.
Also an active orchestral musician, Maxime is a member of the Orchestre Symphonique de Gatineau and has played regularly with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Canadian Opera Company, and the National Ballet of Canada.