It is with great regret that we announce the death of Louis Villeneuve, the president of our Board of Directors on August 6th, 2021.
We are profoundly saddened by Mr. Villeneuve’s sudden passing. We will be forever grateful to him for all he accomplished for the orchestra and its development since 2016. His enthusiasm and joie de vivre were contagious. His intelligence, curiosity, optimism, determination, tenacity, rigour, elegance and tact made him a unique president. An inspiration and a visionary.
Mr. Villeneuve was extremely generous with his time and, despite the many hats he wore, was never troubled to help out with the orchestra. Under his leadership we constantly sought to surpass ourselves.
An avid classical music lover — and of the arts in general — he had a thousand and one projects in mind to expand the orchestra.
In this OF’s 20th anniversary year — a milestone he wanted to celebrate in a big way — we will, sadly, have to do so without him.
This will not stop us from celebrating this anniversary for him — indeed it’s undoubtedly what he would have wanted — he who changed us forever and whom we loved so much.
Things will not be the same without him. But for his sake we will find the strength to carry on.
As he adored great authors we cite Victor Hugo: « Tu n’es plus là où tu étais, mais tu es partout là où je suis. »
Our most heartfelt condolences to his mother, his family and friends.
