Monique Jutras

A native of Montréal, Monique Jutras begin to be interested in traditional Québécois music in 1972. During this period of increasing nationalism, traditional music became associated closely with the development of the province's cultural identity. It was in this context that Monique began her career as a folk musician and developed her own projects. Starting as a self-taught ethnologist, she built up a vast repertoire of little-known pieces gathered from collections by Québec folklorists such as Gagnon, Massicotte, Barbeau, Lacourcière and others. In 1977, thanks to a grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, she researched and collected songs from the region of Lanaudière, a veritable goldmine of traditional Québécois folk music.

In 1982, she studied ethnology at Laval University in Québec while simultaneously raising a family. After earning her Bachelors degree in 1985, she left the country to live with her family for two years in the Central American country of Nicaragua. She used that time to learn Spanish as well as to expand her repertoire of traditional songs to include Latin-American folksongs.

When she returned to Québec in 1987, she hit the books again at the University of Laval, studying traditional Québécois and French songs and earning a Masters degree in 1991, leading to the publication, in collaboration with the renowned researcher Conrad Laforte, of a work entitled Vision d'une société par les chansons de tradition orale à caractère épique et tragique (Presses de l'Université Laval, Québec 1997).

In 1999, thanks to generous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec and SODEC, Monique Jutras released her third CD entitled Complaintes médiévales (see discography). It features a dozen songs largely inspired by her Masters project. This CD presents a little-known repertoire of Québécois traditional music, with highly poetic songs or laments known as "complaintes," whose ancestral roots are magnificently rendered by the musicians of L'Ensemble Claude Gervaise on a multitude of ancient instruments (chalémies, cromornes, cervelas, vièles, saqueboute, etc...).

Two of her works, Complaintes médiévales and Vision d'une société par les chansons de tradition orale à caractère épique et tragique, Monique Jutras won the Mnémo prize in 2000 in honour of work that "not only gives access to a rare repertoire but which presents a comprehensive analysis of the context and function of popular lyricism… and recognizes the research and hard work executed by Monique Jutras, adding exceptional depth to her artistic career." (Bulletin Mnémo, autumn 2000, tr.).

All the while she was studying, Monique continued to perform, in Québec, other Canadian provinces and in the US and Latin America. Over the years, she developed shows with a variety of different themes for different repertoires, including Hommage à Raoul Roy (1990), Les classiques de la poésie québécoise (1991), Tout le long du Saint-Laurent (1992), Traditions et Poésies Nord-Sud (1994), Québec en chansons (1994) and many more (see performance history). Since 1995, she has released four albums : Chantons et turlutons (1995), La turlute des Little-Delisle (1996), Complaintes médiévales (1999) et Monique Jutras chante et turlute La Bolduc (2003, see discography and presskit).

Fascinated by the "turlute," Monique Jutras has profoundly explored the repertoire of Québec's famous "turluteuse," La Bolduc, who was a pioneering singer-songwriter, that left behind a trail of greatness that still continues to inspire many people. In 2000 and 2001, Monique Jutras was proposed the role of Madame Bolduc in the play "Sur les traces de la Bolduc" from the Montreal author Lorraine Beaudry. This play, presented a hundred times in the area of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve of Montreal, has known a stark and striking success from the public that came from all around Quebec to assist the revival of this magnificent tale. Following this series of plays, Monique continues to answer to demands of the public to put on more shows and tours involving Madame Bolduc, a true legend of Quebec culture.

Her involvement with young audiences has been a constant since 1991, whether by the production of the audio disc Chantons et turlutons or by the presentation of workshops or concerts available in her tours and in the festivals across Quebec and Canada (New Brunswick, Manitoba, Saskatchewan)(see Shows). Since 1993, Monique Jutras also participates in a tour called "Les Artistes à l'École", a tour that is put on by the Minister of Culture or The Minister of Education of Quebec. This show also teaches adults how to sing since 2000, accepting private students as well as groups of students from "l'École des Arts de la Veillée" in it's own studio for the Société de la Promotion de la Danse Traditionnelle Québécoise, an organisme devoted to promote Quebec musical patrimony.

Monique Jutra's passion for songs and traditional Québécois music expands on over 30 years now, establishing herself firmly in the industry through time. In fact, with the collaboration of an amazing musical band, consisting of Jean-Claude Bélanger for musical arrangements, of Jean-Pierre Joyal, a fiddler and foot tapper, as well as Luc Lavallée, pianist, guitarist and bassist, who support her artistic ideas and help her in her presentations with lots of energy so characteristic of Quebec folk music. Sometimes other musicians join her concerts, notably Gilles Plante from "L'Ensemble Claude Gervaise" on flute, bagpipe and other ancient instruments (see musicians).

Back home in Montréal since 2001, after 25 years in Québec City, Monique Jutras continues to travel across the province, the country as well as internationally! Monique jutras is an ethnologist and a passionate musician who adapts her presentations to better suit the audience of variable ages. Her ultimate goal is to make traditional Quebec culture known to young and old, French or foreign, workers or scholors and amateurs or pros! Lastly, Monique is thrilled to have the priviledge of sharing this great passion of hers to everyone no matter their age or cultural backgrounds.

One thing is certain – all are bound to leave one of her performancies singing and "turlutting"!