The Canadian tenor Jean-Michel Richer started his career outside Canada at the Chautauqua Music Festival, where he sang Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, the Chevalier de la Force in Dialogues des Carmélites, and the title role of Werther. He has taken part in several concerts with Studio de Musique Ancienne de Montréal, I Musici de Montréal, and Ensemble Caprice. Richer’s recital, Songs of Travel with pianist Martin Dubé, was awarded the Josef Traxel Scholarship in 2013.

He is supported by the Jacqueline Desmarais Foundation, which enables him to pursue his vocal training with Marlena Kleinman Malas in New York. After studying trombone and singing in Montreal, he pursued his studies with the Music Academy of the West, the Canadian Vocal Arts Institute, and the Orford Arts Centre with Marilyn Horne, Warren Jones, Michel Sénéchal, Joan Dornemann, Edith Bers and Tom Krause.