Michel Rivard in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu

Michel Rivard is a Canadian singer-songwriter from Montreal, born in 1951, whose French-language music draws on chanson, folk rock and pop. He was a founding member of Beau Dommage and wrote the group’s “La complainte du phoque en Alaska.” His solo catalogue includes the album Un trou dans les nuages and songs such as “Je voudrais voir la mer” and “Schefferville.” Beau Dommage reunited in the 1990s for a new album and a tour of Quebec, returning Michel Rivard to the concert stage with the group that introduced many of his songs. He later brought his autobiographical concert-theatre work L’origine de mes espèces, directed by Claude Poissant, to the Théâtre du Nouveau Monde in Montreal.