Biography
Originally from Rimouski, Québec, Canada, holds a Master of Music degree and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree, both from the Cleveland Institute of Music, where she studied with Desmond Hoebig, former Principal Cello of the Cleveland Orchestra, and Richard Aaron. Marie-Thais also holds an Undergraduate degree from the Conservatoire de Musique de Montréal, where she studied with Denis Brott. From 2002 to 2010, Marie-Thaïs was Principal Cello of the Akron Symphony and the Canton Symphony in Ohio. Marie-Thaïs was heard in many summer festivals. In the summer of 2003, she was awarded a full scholarship to attend the masterclass session at the Banff Center for the Arts, Alberta, Canada, where she worked with Aldo Parisot and Shauna Rolston. In 2002, she had the chance to be around Mtislav Rostropovich, Yo-Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax and work with Maestro Seiji Osawa while studying at the Tanglewood Music Center. In June of 2001, Mrs. Oliver was selected to participate in the Piatigorsky Seminar for cellists in Los Angeles, where she worked with Ralph Kirshbaum, Boris Pergamenshikov, and Tsuyoshi Tsutsumi. Marie-Thaïs also spent three summers at the Music Academy of the West in Santa-Barbara, California, from 1998 to 2000. She is now a full-time member of the Music and Mountains Festival Orchestra in Durango, Colorado. In December 1999, she was a member of the New York String Orchestra Seminar and performed at Carnegie Hall under the baton of Jaime Laredo. Marie-Thaïs was also a member of the National Youth Orchestra of Canada in 1997, where she played Principal Cello on a national tour. Mrs Levesque Oliver was heard as soloist with the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra in 2004, playing Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme. She was also heard with the Orchestre Symphonique de l'Estuaire in 2005 where she performed Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations, and Beethoven’s Triple Concerto, and again in 2008, performing Dvorak's Cello Concerto. Marie-Thaïs was the soloist for Richard Strauss’ Don Quixote with the Akron Symphony in May 2007. She won first prize, Jury’s prize and CBC Radio prize at the Trois-Rivières Symphony competition in February of 2001. In October of 2001, she played a recital that was broadcast nationwide in Canada on CBC National Radio in January 2002. Mrs. Oliver is now a freelancer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, where she frequently plays as an extra cellist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, among other groups.