Sibling pianists Josée and Martin Caron were born in Rimouski‚ located in eastern Quebec‚ Canada. They began their piano studies with Pauline Charron. They have been established in Montréal for many years and they officially started collaborating as a piano duo under the name Duo Caron‚ arranging and playing orchestral works for two pianos and piano duet.

Josée Caron studied at the Salzburg Internationale Sommerakademie der Hochschule »Mozarteum« in 1986 where she perfected her skills with Claude Helffer and Helena Costa.

In 1988‚ she studied with Martha Del Vecchio at the Internationale Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena‚ Italy. This academy awarded her a Diploma of Honour‚ in particular for the quality of her performances given in Montalcino and Siena.

She also had the opportunity to work with renowned masters such as Lazar Berman‚ Monique Deschaussées‚ Anthony Di Bonaventura and Ferenc Rados. She was recipient of the Fondation Les Amis de l’Art award for several years. In addition, by receiving a FCAR scholarship (for study and perfectionnement)‚ she earned a Ph. D. in Piano Performance in 1989 from the University of Montréal under the tutelage of Natalie Pepin.

First-prize winner in the Canadian Music Competition (CMC)‚ she is interested in the repertoire ranging from the early twentieth century until today. Over the years‚ Josée Caron has participated in numerous premieres of unpublished Canadian works‚ both on stage and in broadcasts. Composer Nicole Carignan dedicated Motivations¹ for piano solo to her‚ a work she has played on many stages. Other premieres include Massimo Rossi’s lyrical Preludio Per Pianoforte for piano solo‚ Alan Belkin’s Sonata for cello and piano‚ and Michael Parker’ Prelude and Fugue After Bach‚ Op. 44 for horn and piano‚ to name but a few.

She performes both on stage and in broadcasts (Radio-Canada radio and television networks‚ TV5 television broadcasts) as a solo artist‚ as well as a chamber player. As a chamber musician‚ she presentes numerous recitals such as concerts organized by the music committee of the Canadian Jewish Congress. In 1998‚ she performed a concert tour for Jeunesses Musicales du Canada with clarinettist Gilles C. Plante‚ founding member of the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM). She regularly played in duo with violinist Natalya Turovsky‚ founding member of the chamber I Musici Orchestra of Montréal. She also played with cellist Claude Lamothe for several years.

Her brother Martin Caron‚ pianist‚ began his piano studies in 1985 with Natalie Pepin at the University of Montréal. He perfected his skills through several workshops and masterclasses‚ notably working with Karl Engel‚ Claude Helffer and Tatiana Nikolaeva.

Martin Caron has distinguished himself in many competitions‚ including the CIBC National Music Festival (First Prize‚ 1987) and the Début series (First Prize‚ 1990). He was recipient of the Fondation Les Amis de l’Art award. He has often been heard on the Radio-Canada network‚ in radio and television broadcasts both as a soloist and in chamber ensembles. These broadcasts include the Sur Invitation show where he played with the famous soprano Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez.

As well as being a transcriber‚ composer and pedagogue‚ Martin Caron was pianist-accompanist for the Vincent-D’Indy and at the Gatineau Conservatory of Music in Quebec. He teaches and is pianist-accompanist at the Camp musical du Père Lindsay‚ in Lanaudière‚ since 1992 and is pianist-accompanist at the École supérieure de ballet du Québec. Martin Caron has been a member of Socan since 1992 and of Sodrac since 1995.

In 1990‚ Josée and Martin Caron became a piano duo‚ garnering attention and acclaim in the musical milieu for their own transcriptions of orchestral works. They also play the traditional repertoire for two pianos or piano duet.

The Duo was selected by the AQWBJ for a promotional tour in Wallonia-Brussels‚ Belgium (1994) and Québec Bourse Rideau Showcase 1996². During the same year‚ the Caron piano duo premiered Alan Belkin³ ’s Petite Suite for two pianos four hands in Montréal’s Claude-Champagne concert hall.

In 1998‚ the Québec International Duo-Piano Festival commissioned Martin Caron to write a transcription for two pianos‚ eight hands of Georges Gershwin’s Strike up the Band.⁴ They premiered it at the Gala Concert with the Morel-Nemish piano duo. The same year‚ the Festival won the OPUS AWARD | Broadcaster of the year.

The originality of their projects earns also them numerous concert appearances with the Jeunesses Musicales du Canada‚ the Montréal International Piano Festival‚ the Lachine Music Festival‚ at the Historic Bon-Pasteur Chapel‚ the Richmond Art Centre‚ the Rimouski Spect’Art concert series‚ Les Dominicales (Le Saint-Jean-Baptiste) concert series to name a few‚ as well as network broadcasts on Radio-Canada.

Duo Caron’s recordings include a CD of Post-Romantic works and another of works by Tchaikovsky‚ which received a Musicaction grant. The latter‚ very favourably reviewed by Classical Music Magazine‚ earned the duo five stars out of five for their performance. Duo Caron’s third album features works by eminent English composers‚ including world premiere recordings of unpublished arrangements of works by Paul McCartney. This recording has been reviewed by The American Record Guide which qualified it as a «Wonderful release». Subsidized by Musicaction and Canimex‚ fourth album is dedicated to Mendelssohn’s major works and includes an original version of «Italian» Symphony by Martin Caron for two pianos four hands.

Duo Caron recordings are regularly broadcast on Radio-Canada SRC and CBC‚ Radio Classique CJPX‚ Galaxie‚ CKUA Radio Network Edmonton and RTBF Radio Musiq3 in Belgium.