La Pietà

After being a solo artist for over a decade, violinist Angèle Dubeau created the all-women string ensemble La Pietà in 1997 in order to perform Vivaldi concertos. But the group experience proved so rewarding that it became Dubeau's primary outlet for her ongoing mission to introduce classical music to wider audiences. Born in Saint-Norbert, Quebec, in 1962, Dubeau—known for playing a 1733 Des Rosiers Stradivarius—released more than a dozen solo albums before releasing Vivaldi: Concerto for String with La Pietà in 1998. Later, she employed the lush-sounding ensemble, which numbers as many as 16 members, for her Portrait series of albums dedicated to the contemporary, minimalist composers—including Philip Glass, John Adams, and Arvo Pärt—that inspire her. In addition to recording some two dozen, often thematically inclined, albums—such as Infernal Violins (2003), Fairy Tale (2007), and Game Music (2012)—for husband-manager François Mario Labbé's Analekta label, Dubeau and La Pietà tour extensively.