Montreal cellist François Leclerc began learning music at the age of 8 as part of a school program. From an early age, he was introduced to ensemble music in numerous youth orchestras. At only 18 years old, François had already performed on stages in several cities in Canada, the United States and Europe. At the age of 16, he gave a concert at the prestigious Carnegie Hall in New York as a conductor and soloist.
A founding member of the Cobalt Quartet, he is a seasoned chamber musician. He has also played with various ensembles and has benefited from the teaching of the Bozzini Quartet, the Gryphon Trio and the pedagogues Laura Andriani, Annick Roussin, Laurence Kayaleh and Guillaume Sutre. As a soloist, he has performed in master classes for Jean-Guihen Queyras, Jan Vogler and Clive Greensmith. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in performance from the Université de Montréal under the tutelage of Yegor Dyachkov, where he also completed a DEPA in baroque cello with Elinor Frey.
He is the recipient of a grant from the Father Lindsay Foundation’s Development Fund for Young Musicians and of the Father Lindsay Foundation – Orford Music Training Grant.
François Leclerc plays on a Pietro Antonio Cateni cello (c. 1790-1810) and a Gustav Prager bow generously loaned by Canimex inc. of Drummondville (Québec), Canada.