Inti Manzi, violon
Born into a family of musicians, he began his violin training at the age of 5 with the Méthode Létourneau. His Chilean father, a guitarist and singer, instilled in him the notions of improvisation, learning "by ear", creating arrangements within a group, and the pleasure of playing. His French mother, a singer, recorder player and pianist, instilled in him a concern for precision in execution, rigorous reading of music, accuracy and memorization. Together with his pianist sister and his parents, they formed a Latin music group, Intiacamaya, during his youth. They performed at community events, on the street, on the radio and at family parties.
This musical background led him to form several other groups, while continuing his training as a classical violinist. Indeed, at the end of high school, he founded his first traditional Québécois music group, L'Éveil Bleu, which existed for several years. Then, during his college studies in music at the CNDF in the class of Claude Létourneau (author of the Méthode Létourneau), two other groups were born: Spleen, which combines interpretations of 70s rock music with compositions in the same style, and another Quebec music group, Les Chauffeurs à Pieds, with whom he travels the planet playing from one festival to another: in addition to Quebec, they tour English Canada from East to West, the United States, Europe, Africa and Australia. They recorded several albums together.
Described as a late-bloomer by his teacher Claude Létourneau, he entered the Quebec Conservatory of Music at the age of 18, first with Jean Anger and Catherine Dallaire, then with Liliane Garnier-Lesage, with the firm intention of pursuing a professional career as a classical violinist, while continuing to explore other musical styles. In the early 2000s, he became a founding member of the contemporary music group Erreur de Type 27, now known as E27. Spearheaded by composition students at the time, this initiative from the Quebec City conservatory has given rise to a number of performances in which several pieces have been premiered. Later, he played an active role for several years in Zeugma, the ensemble created by Katia Makdissi-Warren. Now known as OktoEcho, this ensemble plays a wonderful blend of Arabic, contemporary, Inuit and jazz music.
A few years later, in 2005, he joined the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec as 3rd chair second violin, winning two auditions (section violin and then 3rd chair second violin). For the next 17 years, he regularly replaced the 2nd chair (assistant to the conductor). In addition to his main work, his activities as an orchestral musician extend to several other Quebec ensembles: OSE, OSTR, OSSLSJ, OSS, OSCN.
Strongly feeling the call to play music in smaller ensembles, in 2010 he undertook a certificate in chamber music at Université Laval with Brett Molzan. This led him, in 2015, to found the Quatuor Crema with 3 musicians invested with the same desire to extend their interpretative spectrum to several musical styles, while pursuing as their main objective the achievement of a unique ensemble sound. In the same spirit, in 2012 he discovered the joy of working in a chamber orchestra by becoming a regular supernumerary with Les Violons du Roy. He takes part in their concerts, some of their international tours and several recordings.
Teaching music is an activity he particularly enjoys. He began his training as a pedagogue during his years at the conservatory. Accredited by Méthode Létourneau instructors, he completed several levels, enabling him to teach both privately and with the Société Musicale Claude Létourneau (SMCL). In addition, his activities as a traditional musician led to opportunities to teach "trad" music. He then developed an expertise in teaching groups to learn "by ear".
During this period, Inti deepened his work as an arranger, adapting the music of the progressive rock group Genesis for string quartet. In addition, his various projects include arrangements of film music, songs and tangos, always for chamber music ensembles.
Together with his partner, violist Annie Morrier, they teamed up with Chilean-born pianist and composer Carlos H. Leon to perform his music, strongly influenced by Argentine tango. Their project led to several recordings, which can be heard on Radio-Classique in Quebec City under their group name ANNINKA.
In 2017, he formed the duo Mano a Mano with Juan Cruz, another Argentinian singer and guitarist based in Quebec City, whose repertoire also revolves around Argentinian tango. A few years later, he continued to expand his collaborations, notably with the "Errances Celtiques" trio, which presents classical arrangements for piano, violin and cello of traditional Celtic-influenced tunes. More recently, in 2023, Inti formed a piano trio with cellist Diliana Momtchilova and pianist Mehdi Ghazi, dedicated to the great classical music repertoire. This initiative led them to create a partnership with the Arquemuse music school, located in the heart of Quebec City, which enabled them to develop a more pedagogical aspect to their trio activities. In 2024, they officially became the Trio Arquemuse.
