Gentiane Michaud Gagnon, known professionally as Gentiane MG, is a Montreal-based pianist and composer whose music explores human connection, emotional depth, and the quiet relationship between inner life and the natural world. Blending contemporary jazz, classical influence, and evocative imagery, her work unfolds as a series of poetic musical scenes shaped by memory, curiosity, and lived experience.
Raised in Jonquière in northern Quebec, a region defined by vast wilderness and solitude, Gentiane developed an early sensitivity to sound, silence, and atmosphere. Music became her primary language from a young age and a deeply spiritual anchor. She began piano lessons at five, quickly immersing herself in sound, emotion, and nuance. Alongside music, nature played an equally formative role in shaping her inner world. For Gentiane, both music and nature are wordless languages that must be heard, seen, and lived, offering connection beyond explanation.
Her classical training at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec in Saguenay grounded her in technical fluency, refined touch, and a deep sense of phrasing and emotional clarity, while early exposure to rock music and later immersion in jazz expanded her sense of rhythm, freedom, and collective expression. A defining moment came at age fifteen during a performance of Grieg’s Piano Concerto, when she experienced complete presence at the piano and knew music would be her life’s path. Soon after, she moved to Montreal to study jazz, drawn to its emphasis on listening, communication, and shared human experience.
Gentiane holds a master’s degree in jazz performance from McGill University, where she received the Graduate Award Fellowship, as well as a diploma from the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique du Québec. Her primary influences include Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Brad Mehldau, and Herbie Hancock, alongside a lifelong relationship with classical repertoire and composition.
In 2014, she founded her piano trio, later joined by bassist Levi Dover and drummer Mark Nelson. Together, they have released three critically acclaimed albums and toured extensively across Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, the Netherlands, and Mexico. The trio has received numerous honours, including the Révélation Radio Canada Jazz Prize, the François Marcaurelle Prize, OPUS Awards for Discovery of the Year and Jazz Album of the Year, and nominations from ADISQ and the JUNO Awards. Critics frequently cite the trio’s refined interplay, emotional intelligence, and cinematic scope.
Recorded in September 2025, Gentiane’s fourth album, Can You Hear the Birds?, marks a new chapter in her artistic evolution. While her earlier work leaned inward, this album turns outward, embracing curiosity, connection, and lightness without abandoning emotional depth. Each composition is inspired by people and moments that shaped her life, including strong friendships, shared journeys, grief, illness, forgiveness, and the quiet decision to seek joy. Rather than telling explicit stories, the music offers emotional landscapes that listeners are invited to inhabit and interpret through their own experience.
For Gentiane, composing is an intuitive and layered process, akin to painting. She often begins with an image or fleeting moment, building colour, texture, and emotion through sound. Her creative life is nourished by interests beyond music, including painting, reading, physical training, skiing, and time spent in nature. These practices allow her to remain connected to curiosity, vitality, and presence, qualities that flow directly into her work.
At its core, Gentiane’s music is about connection. Connection between bandmates, between oneself and the world, and with parts of oneself still being discovered. Through her work, she invites listeners to feel alive, open, and grounded in their own humanity, choosing light without denying depth.
Name:
Gentiane Michaud Gagnon
Genre:
Jazz
Founded:
2014
# of Albums:
4
Latest Album:
Can You Hear the Birds?
Latest Single:
Soeur orchidée
Latest Video:
Favourite musician growing up:
Genesis, Neil Young, Chopin, Brad Mehldau, Radiohead, U2, Coldplay, Norah Jones, Bill Evans
Favourite musician now:
Immanuel Wilkins, Chai Maestro, Glenn Zaleski, Pablo Held Trio, Stéphanie Boulay
Guilty pleasure song:
Hits from the 80’s and 90’s! For good karaoke nights. Africa, I Will Survive. Also, Celine Dion’s French hits from the 90’s.
Live show ritual:
I have one personal important rule: to never play the music before the show. I do anything that nourishes my spirit and keeps me focused. Sometimes it’s walking around, sometimes it’s eating, sometimes it’s hanging out with bandmates, or taking a warm bath, or having tea or coffee.
Favourite local musician:
Alex Leblanc
EP or LP?
LP
Early bird or night owl?
I like both, but at this point in my life, early bird as much as possible. I like living in the daylight, plus my cat wakes me up at 7 a.m. every day no matter what. I am not scared of the night, though. I also like hanging out late outside of day-to-day tasks.
Road or studio?
Studio for the sheltered quiet focused cocoon where time stops. Road for various experiences, encounters and openness to the world.
Any shows or albums coming up?
I have a new album came out on March 27, Can You Hear the Birds?
A tour in Europe will follow in April, the Toronto Jazz Festival on June 25!
Where can we follow you?
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Rapid Fire Local Questions:
What is your favourite local restaurant?
Fondue Haidilao! Very fun, unifying place for authentic Chinese hot pot with friends.
What is your favourite street in your city and why?
I love Mont-Royal Street. Coming from a small town where there is only the mall to shop, these little streets with local boutiques for window shopping, restaurants, and terraces have always felt special to me. Mont-Royal is on the Plateau, which is a very emblematic area of Montreal, and they close it to pedestrians in the summer, which makes it extra family-friendly and festive.
What is your favourite park in your city and why?
Park Lafontaine – I like running there. I like that it gets buzzy in the summer, we can see all kinds of people, and feel the happiness. People party, picnic, play sports, there’s also a dog park which I always like passing by. It’s a place for various encounters, and it is a really beautiful park in the middle of the Plateau. There are also a bunch of restaurants close by to get good food for takeout.
What is your favourite music venue in your city?
Dièse Onze. It’s my favourite jazz club in Montreal; having gone there and played there so much, it became like a second home and a place where we can meet our musical community.
What is your favourite music store in your city?
My favourite music store is Archambault. I always go there to buy manuscript music paper of all kinds and classical sheet music.
