Emmy nominated and Eight-time JUNO nominated Alain Trudel is Music Director of the Toledo Symphony, Artistic Director of the Toledo Jazz Orchestra, and Music Director of l’Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivières (Qué). Trudel has also held conducting positions at the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra London and the orchestre symphonique de Laval.

Trudel served as the CBC Radio Orchestra conductor, taking the orchestra to new heights of artistic quality, as well as public and critical acclaim. "Probably the best thing that's ever happened to the orchestra” (Vancouver Sun).

He was knighted by the government of Québec in 2020 and received a Jubilee medal from the Queen of England. Trudel holds the Caroline Jobst Reimann Principal Conductor Chair.

 

Trudel has conducted every major orchestra in Canada as well as orchestras in the UK, USA, Sweden, Brazil, Italy, Russia, Japan, Hong-Kong, Malaysia and Latin America. 

He has collaborated with many renowned artists such as Yo-Yo Ma, Herbie Hancock, Midori, Pinchas Zukerman, and Branford Marsalis. He has been a regular guest with the Opéra de Montréal where he conducted classics such as Carmen, The Magic Flute, Hansel & Gretel, the premiere of the operatic version of Another Brick in the Wall as well as leading operas in Cincinnati, Québec and Toronto. Trudel was interim music director of the National Academy Orchestra and Brott festival, the most important orchestral festival in Canada, in 2022 and 2023, assuring a successful transition after the tragic passing of its founder.   

Hailed as “the Jascha Heifetz of the trombone” (Le monde de la musique) Trudel is one of the world’s most respected and renowned trombonists. In 2018 he was awarded the prestigious International Trombone Association Award for his outstanding contribution. As the first Canadian to be a Yamaha international artist for the company has internationally distributed the Alain Trudel mouthpiece designed with his specifications.  

Trudel made his solo debut at the age of 18 with Charles Dutoit and l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal and has continued to grace the world’s stages for nearly 40 years, including appearances with l’Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio-France, the Hong-Kong Philharmonic, the Austrian Radio Orchestra, Carnegie-Weill Recital Hall (NY), Dresdner Neueu Musik Tage (Germany),Tasmania New Music Festival (Australia), Festival Musica Strasbourg (France), Klangbogen Festival (Vienna), Akiyoshidai and Hamamatsu festival (Japan). 

In his most recent recording of the Jacques Hétu concerto, which he both performs and conducts with the Laval Orchestra, the album was nominated for Best Large Orchestral Recording at the 2021 JUNO Awards. His highest selling recording on Naxos, Atma and other labels have received multiple prizes and rave reviews: 5 stars from BBC magazine, Choc de l’année from Le monde de la musique, Grand prix de l’académie Charles Cros, Opus Prize, as well as the New York Times and the American Music Guide. 

Trudel is also an accomplished composer with commissions and premieres in America and Asia. He is the recipient of numerous awards and honours, among them the Choc de l’année du monde de la musique, Grand prix de l’académie Charles Cros, the Virginia Parker Prize.