Bernard Riche

Bernard Riche was born in Saint-Denis, France. He began his percussion training at the Conservatoire de musique du Bourget, then continued his studies at the École Supérieure de Batterie de Paris with Emmanuel Boursault and Guy Lefebvre, where he received several honorary distinctions, including three Premier Prix supérieur.

He immigrated to Canada in 2000 and has since performed with numerous Quebec jazz musicians, including Michel Donato, Yannick Rieu, François Bourassa, Frédéric Alarie, Adrian Vedady, Guy Boisvert, Steve Amirault, Didier Dumoutier, and Michel Côté, among others.

In 2007, he created a concert blending jazz and classical music, featuring a nonet (jazz quartet and classical wind quintet with the participation of Carmelle Préfontaine) performing jazz standards and reimagined classical works.

The year 2008 marked the founding of his production company, Productions Orèv, which has allowed him, among other projects, to produce jazz concerts across Quebec. Under this label, he released two albums of different styles, including one featuring his own compositions performed with the Bernard Riche 3Trio, formed with François Bourassa on piano and Frédéric Alarie on double bass: Double Je (2014).

On May 10, 2012, the works À cordes & à cris and Thème were premiered at the Maison Symphonique in Montreal. Bernard Riche performed his concerto for drum set and his symphonic ballad with François Bourassa on piano and Guy Boisvert on double bass, accompanied by the Orchestre Métropolitain under the direction of Mélanie Léonard.

Since then, he has worked closely with arranger Thierry Pilote on the creation of an opera-jazz, a work for symphony orchestra, choir, organ, and jazz trio. This seventy-five-minute composition includes twelve movements that combine classical, jazz, and world music elements. In 2021, Bernard began collaborating on various projects with harpist Valérie Milot, including contributing to Transfiguration, the duo album by Valérie Milot and Stéphane Tétreault, adding his expressive and inventive playing to two of the album’s exceptional tracks.