Taking its name from an evocative composition by iconic Montréal composer Claude Vivier, Paramirabo was founded in 2008 by young musicians at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal.

The ensemble has since forged new paths through its audacious programs, multiple collaborations and exchanges, engagement with the public, and its commitment to showcasing new music works by young Canadian and Quebec composers at home and abroad. Paramirabo has performed internationally, from Belgium, France and Germany to Mexico and the United Kingdom, and has been invited to numerous new music festivals: Kontraklang (Berlin, 2021), the MNM Festival (Montréal, 2021), the LOOP Festival and Ars Musica (Mons, Liège and Brussels, 2019), the Waterloo Region Contemporary Music Sessions (2018), the Frontiers Festival (Birmingham, 2016), the Eduardo Mata Festival (Oaxaca, 2016), New York’s Mise-En Music Festival (2014), Winnipeg’s Cluster New Music Festival and the Montreal Contemporary Music Lab (2013).

Paramirabo served as ensemble-in-residence for the new music workshop at the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix International Music and Dance Academy from 2017 to 2023 and began a new collaboration with Orford Musique in the summer of 2024.

The ensemble is the winner of three Opus Awards (2019, 2020, 2021) and was nominated for the 2020 Juno for Classical Album of the Year.