From the beginning of his career Jacques Lacombe has been highly praised as a remarkable conductor whose artistic integrity and rapport with orchestras have propelled him to international stature.

In September 2010, Jacques Lacombe succeeded Neeme Järvi as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra; he has been the Music Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières in Québec, Canada since 2006.

After starting his career as Charles Dutoit's assistant at the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Jacques Lacombe has worked on an international scale with some of the most prestigious opera companies, symphony orchestras and ballet companies. Principal Guest Conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal from 2002 to 2006, Lacombe served for three years as Music Director of both orchestra and opera with the Philharmonie de Lorraine in France from 1998 to 2001, as well as "chef associé" for the 2005-2006 season with the Orchestre Lyrique de Région Avignon Provence in France.

Maestro Lacombe’s upcoming engagements for the 2011-12 season include: his debut with the Orquesta Filarmonica de Malaga in Spain, return engagements with the Vancouver Opera in Roméo et Juliette and with the Deutsche Oper conducting Un Ballo in Maschera as well as the rarely performed operas: Die Dorfschule by Felix von Weingartner and Carl Orff’s Gisei - Das Opfer. Lacombe has also been included in the inaugural season of the new hall of the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal in a program including works by Grieg, Sibelius and Prokofiev. In addition to making his Carnegie Hall debut as part of the May 2012 Spring for Music Festival, Maestro Lacombe as Music Director of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra will present a variety of concerts including two world premieres (George Walker and Richard Danielpour) and distinguished soloists featuring an opening night gala performance with Frederica von Stade and concerts with Renée Fleming, André Watts, Gil Shaham, Marc-André Hamelin, and Yefim Bronfman.

Last season began with the opening gala of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, featuring Joshua Bell and Jeanine De Bique, along with the critically acclaimed CD released by the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra including Janáček’s Suite from The Cunning Little Vixen and Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana. Lacombe returned to the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal for season-opening concerts of works by Jacques Hétu, Ravel and Orff. Operatic engagements included returns to the Opera Company of Philadelphia for Roméo et Juliette, Deutsche Oper Berlin for Ariadne auf Naxos, Vancouver Opera for La Traviata and the world premiere of John Estacio’s Lillian Alling, and l’Opéra de Marseille for Le Cid starring Roberto Alagna and Béatrice Uria-Monzon – broadcast on Mezzo TV throughout Europe.

In recent seasons, Lacombe made his debut with the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden, leading an all-star cast of Tosca (Angela Gheorghiu, Marcello Giordani, and Bryn Terfel). He conducted Ariadne auf Naxos for his debut with the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich. He led Turandot and Les Contes d’Hoffmann for Opéra de Monte-Carlo and Der fliegende Holländer, Eugene Onegin and concert performances of Waltershausen’s rarely heard Oberst Chabert at the Deutsche Oper Berlin – produced by CPO in 2011 as a live CD.

In addition to his collaborations with all the major Canadian orchestras, including several tours and recordings with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, Lacombe has worked abroad with orchestras in Monte-Carlo, Nice, Toulouse and Halle, as well as Orchestre Lamoureux in Paris, Slovakia Philharmonic, Budapest Symphony, Royal Flemish Philharmonic, Victoria Orchestra Melbourne and the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra.

A regular guest at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he has led numerous productions, including Zemlinsky’s Der Traumgörge, Lacombe conducted the world premiere of Vladimir Cosma’s Marius et Fanny at l’Opéra de Marseille starring Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna. He has also led operatic productions at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and Teatro Regio in Turin, along with opera companies in Milwaukee, Minnesota, Philadelphia, Montréal and Québec.

For 12 seasons, Jacques Lacombe was Music Director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens and he has also been regularly invited by the Royal Ballet of Covent Garden including a tour in Australia in 2002.

He has recorded for the CPO and Analekta labels and has been broadcast on PBS, the CBC, Mezzo TV in Europe, Arte TV in France and on Hungarian Radio-Television.

Born in Cap-de-la-Madeleine, Québec, Lacombe received his musical training at the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal and at the Hochschule für Musik in Vienna.

_{Last updated: October 6, 2011.}