Guillaume Tardif, Doctor of Musical Arts (Eastman School, University of Rochester), DESM 2 (Conservatoire du Québec), MBA (University of Alberta)

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Arts - Music Dept

Email: gtardif@ualberta.ca
Phone: (780) 932-1262
Address: 3-82 Fine Arts Building
8807 - 112 St NW

Edmonton AB

T6G 2C9

Overview

About

Canadian violinist Guillaume Tardif pursues an active career as a performer and pedagogue. He regularly travels on recital tours and appears as soloist with orchestras in prominent venues in Canada, the United States, Europe, Asia, South America, and Australasia – most recently at Carnegie-Weill Hall in Paganini’s 24 Caprices. He often performs repertoire ranging from early music to contemporary works and introduces many lesser-known works and original compositions, cadenzas, and arrangements. He is also often heard on radio and TV networks. He has produced several CD recordings, including ‘Swarm: Music for Two Violins’ (Dell'Arco / Amethyst, Canadian Music Centre - Naxos of America), ‘Paganini’s Shadow - H. W. Ernst’ (Olms-Verlag), ‘Tales from the Dinarides’ (Wirth Institute), ‘From the Library of Joseph Szigeti’ (Dell’Arco), and ‘Virtuoso Encores’ (Dell’Arco). He has also been a guest concertmaster for a number of ensembles and performed in company of many distinguished musicians.

He holds degrees from the Eastman School (DMA) and the Conservatoire du Quebec (Premier Prix) and earned awards at the Canadian Music Competition. Guillaume Tardif is Professor of Violin and String Area Coordinator at the Department of Music, University of Alberta. He has been a guest artist or professor at various universities and conservatories, including the Grieg Academy (Norway), Royal College of Stockholm (Sweden), Turku and Jyväskylä Academies (Finland), Amsterdam and Groningen Conservatories (The Netherlands), Liszt Academy, Academy of Sciences, and Universities of Miskolc and Debrecen (Hungary), Hong Kong Academy, Andong University (South Korea), Central Conservatory of Music and Zhejiang University (China), Victoria University of Wellington (New Zealand), and several universities in Brazil.

In 2012, he was a visiting faculty member at the University of Innsbruck, Austria as part of an exchange through the Wirth Institute for Central European Studies. He has also been a faculty member at the Semper Music International Festival (Italy), VCU Global Summer Institute of Music (Richmond, VA), and Beverly Hills International Music Festival (Los Angeles, CA). Apart from performance activities, his research interests include string literature and pedagogy, the business of music, and culture and creativity. Recent publications include a book chapter "H. W. Ernst: Virtuosity and Flow" (Olms-Verlag, 2018), which includes a companion CD that features seven works by Ernst (with Viktoria Reiswich-Dapp, piano), a book chapter "Dialogues, Duels, Diets: Leclair, the French Violin School, and the 2-Violin Repertoire" (Brepols, 2015), and a book review for "Ad Parnassum" (October 2015). He is often involved as an adjudicator for competitions and music foundations. Various granting agencies have supported his research initiatives, including projects such as the Dare to Discover Series with the Enterprise Quartet and the SSHRC-sponsored Genius of the Violin video-documentary.

Research

AREAS OF RESEARCH & INTEREST

Violin Performance
Chamber Music Performance
String Literature, String Pedagogy, and Musicology
Interdisciplinary Projects (e.g., biomechanics)
Sound and Video Recording/Editing
Business of Music
Culture and Creativity

CD Recordings:

2024 (forthcoming) ‘Ukrainian Violin Duets’, with Viktoria Grynenko, violin (TBC – Oclassica or Leaf Music; recorded Apr. 23, 2024, Convocation Hall, Edmonton, AB; funded by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts): Almashi Duo for 2 violins, Pidhorna Through Closed Doors
2024 ‘Timeless Tales from Central Europe’, BTW Trio, Michael Bridge, accordion, and Kornel Wolak, clarinet (BTW Trio), accordion (Wirth Institute, WIR10, recorded January 7-8, 2024, Humbercrest Church, Toronto, ON): Schubert Death and the Maiden (arr. GT and MB), Stravinsky The Soldier’s Tale (arr. GT and MB)
2008 (forthcoming) ‘Gallois-Montbrun: Les 24 Caprices de Paganini’, with Roger Admiral, piano (Dell’Arco Publications, DA04; recorded Aug. 28, 2008, Convocation Hall, Edmonton, AB): Gallois-Montbrun Les 24 Caprices de Paganini
2022 ‘Sonatas & Variations: Masterworks for Violin and Piano’, with Jacques Després, piano (Wirth Institute, DA02 / WIR08; live CBC recording, Mar. 21, 2004; Music at Convocation Hall Series, Edmonton, AB): Mozart Sonata K.378, Beethoven Sonata No. 9, ‘Kreutzer’, Wieniawski Variations on an Original Theme, Op. 15
2020 ‘Swarm: Music for Two Violins’, with Ricardo Odriozola, violin (DA06 / AR20-01; distributed by the Canadian Music Center / NAXOS of America; recorded Nov. 14, 2008; Gunnar Sævigsal, Grieg Academy, Bergen, Norway)
2018 Solo, and duo selections, with Viktoria Reiswich-Dapp, piano; part of the companion CD to C. Hoppe, M. von Goldbeck and M. Kawabata (Eds.), ‘Exploring Virtuosities. Heinrich Wilhelm Ernst, Nineteenth-Century Musical Practices and Beyond’, Göttingen Studies in Musicology, Vol. 10 (pp. 193-210), Hildesheim, Germany: Georg Olms-Verlag (recorded Jan. 16-17, 2017; Convocation Hall, Edmonton, AB)
2017 ‘Tales from the Dinarides, and folk inspirations from Central Europe’, with Kornel Wolak, clarinet, and Michael Bridge, accordion (Wirth Institute, WIR06; recorded Feb. 19-20, 2017; Convocation Hall, Edmonton, AB)
2006 ‘From the Library of Joseph Szigeti’, with Janet Scott Hoyt, piano (Dell’Arco Publications DA03)
2004 ‘Virtuoso Encores’, with Judy Kehler Siebert, piano (Dell’Arco Publications DA01)

Projects:

The Enterprise Quartet Dare to Discover Music Series; funded by the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, Edmonton Community Foundation, and UofA (since 2009)
The Genius of the Violin Project; funded by SSHRC (2012)

Teaching

AREAS OF INSTRUCTION

Violin
Viola
Chamber Music
String Pedagogy & Literature
Business of Music, Culture and Creativity

Ensemble Instruction:

Chamber Music
String Orchestra

Courses

MUSIC 151A - Aural and Keyboard Skills I

The development of basic musicianship skills through dictation and performance of pitch, rhythmic, and keyboard exercises. Prerequisite: MUSIC 100 or satisfactory completion of Department of Music Theory Placement Exam and Aural Skills Exam for other than BMus students. Corequisite: MUSIC 155 or 156. Restricted to BMus (all routes), BMus/BEd, BEd Music Major/Minor, BA (Honors) Music Major, and BA Music Major/Minor students.

Fall Term 2025

MUSIC 151B - Aural and Keyboard Skills I

The development of basic musicianship skills through dictation and performance of pitch, rhythmic, and keyboard exercises. Prerequisite: MUSIC 100 or satisfactory completion of Department of Music Theory Placement Exam and Aural Skills Exam for other than BMus students. Corequisite: MUSIC 155 or 156. Restricted to BMus (all routes), BMus/BEd, BEd Music Major/Minor, BA (Honors) Music Major, and BA Music Major/Minor students.

Winter Term 2026

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Featured Publications

Tartini’s pupils and the unaccompanied violin duet repertoire.

Tardif, G.

In S. Laghi (Ed.), Ad parnassum studies: Vol 13. La tradizione violinistica italiana nel ’700. Bologna: Ut Orpheus. 2022 November; 13

Parallels and intervals: Violinists intersecting with modernity.

Tardif, G.

In P. Defraeye, H. Mitterbauer, & C. Reyns-Chikuma (Eds.), Internationale forschungen zur allgemeinen und vergleichenden literaturwissenschaft. Networks in literature, visual and performing arts, and other cultural practices. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. 2021 November; 205

Performance review: 7 Movements for solo violin by Howard Bashaw, performance by Guillaume Tardif at the 2017 College Music Society International Conference [Video].

Auerbach, D.

College Music Symposium. . 2020 September;

Performance review: 12 by Howard Bashaw, performance by Guillaume Tardif and Roger Admiral at the Music Conference Alberta, 2018 [Video].

Fernandez, L.

College Music Symposium. . 2020 September;

Unraveling mysteries of personal performance style; biomechanics of left-hand position changes (shifting) in violin performance.

Visentin, P., Li, S., Tardif, G., & Shan, G.

PeerJ. 2013 January; 3 (e1299):1-20