The Canadian baritone Jean-François Lapointe was born in Quebec, where he studied at the Universite Laval, subsequently undertaking further study in New York. The winner of some twenty prizes, he made his operatic début in 1983 and now includes in his repertoire the rôles of Pelléas, Figaro, Danilo, Erissac, silvio, Boccaccio, Falke and many others. He appears frequently on television and on radio and can be heard in song recitals and in oratorio. Engagements include the part of Candide in Leonard Bernstein’s opera of that name.