Wake Up to Music Monday

Cape Breton Island is known for its rich culture and its deep roots in music, so every Monday I will feature videos showcasing Cape Breton Island's finest musicians from Fiddlers to Songwriters, to the Gaelic Song and the Rock n Roll!  

Maxim Cormier

Maxim Cormier is an award-winning Acadian and Metis guitarist and composer from Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. He is trained in classical, jazz and world music with a B.Mus from Dalhousie University in guitar performance. He has performed across Canada and toured in Scotland, England, Australia, and France. 

‘Maxim Cormier Plays J.S. Bach’ is Maxim’s solo recording, in which he performs classical music differently - with a flat pick on a steel string guitar. This differs from the norm, where classical guitar music is normally played on a nylon string guitar without a pick.  “Maxim Cormier plays J.S. Bach" features music originally written for flute, lute, keyboard/voice (featuring mezzo-soprano Aurélie Cormier).

Maxim’s fourth studio album, ‘Maxim and Gervais Cormier: Cape Breton Guitar’ is a Celtic duo album with his father, Gervais, was released December 1 2017.

Maxim won many awards including Music Nova Scotia’s ‘Acadian Artist of the Year’ for five years in a row from 2013-2017 and an International Acoustic Music Award for ‘Instrumental of the Year’. When he’s not working on his music, Maxim spends his time teaching others. He has taught at the Gaelic College in Cape Breton, facilitated workshops for Celtic Colours International Festival’s “Roots to the Room” program, taught guitar with Feis Rois in the highlands of Scotland.

“His desire to do things differently led to his playing classical guitar with a flatpick, and it's not just a worthy experiment, it's a revelation.” (Bob Mersereau/Top 100 Canadian Blog) - (http://www.maximcormier.com/)

Maxim Cormier - Prelude For Lute BWV 999 (J.S. Bach) [Official Classical Music Video]