About DFC

Domaine Forget de Charlevoix is a non-profit organization dedicated to performing arts, mainly music and dance education, creation, and performance. Founded in 1978 on a 100-acre historical property overlooking the St. Lawrence River, Domaine Forget is both a summer music and dance academy and an international festival.

Mission

The mission of Domaine Forget is to promote the development of the next generation of artists through high-level training, to offer diversified high-quality artistic programming, to provide a place of expression for the visual arts, to offer a distinctive experience of international reputation on its site and represents a cultural hub for the Charlevoix region.

Vision

In continuity with its historical action towards the arts, the Domaine wishes to assert itself as a reference institution for music lovers and the various actors of the artistic community by offering opportunities for daring, innovative and enriching encounters within the framework of its Academy and International Festival. It also aspires to position itself as an essential cultural bridge between Europe and North America, thus contributing significantly to the development of the cultural milieu of Charlevoix, Quebec and Canada.

Domaine Forget is a registered charity and is therefore authorized to issue official donation receipts.

Charitable registration number: 119012052 RR 0001

The seasons of the Domaine Forget de Charlevoix

International Music and Dance Academy

Domaine Forget de Charlevoix is, first and foremost, an academy internationally renowned for providing top quality instruction to talented up-and-coming dancers and musicians. Domaine Forget de Charlevoix is considered one of Canada’s leading summer academies.

Domaine Forget International Festival

Domaine Forget de Charlevoix is also the host of an International Music and Dance Festival every summer, with over 30 concerts (classical, jazz, and dance), over 40 public master classes and Academy concerts, and 13 musical brunches.

Variety Programming

Every year in spring and fall, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix presents a series of twenty-odd concerts and performances running the gamut from comedy and kids’ shows to educational programming, theater, and film screenings.

History of Domaine Forget de Charlevoix

A touch of history

At the turn of the twentieth century, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix was the summer home of several eminent citizens including Joseph Lavergne (a judge and colleague of Wilfrid Laurier), Adolphe-Basile Routhier (a judge and poet who wrote the French lyrics to “O Canada”) and Rodolphe Forget, member of parliament for Charlevoix and a visionary leader who helped the region embrace the modern area.

In 1945, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix was deeded to the Petites Franciscaines de Marie, a religious order, which ran a school on the grounds for 30 years. In 1977, the late musician Françoys Bernier and a group of local luminaries formed École de Musique de Charlevoix, a non-profit organization that purchased the entire estate, renamed it "Domaine Forget," and made it available for the performing arts, principally music and dance.

Distinctions

Over the years, Domaine Forget’s excellence has been recognized with numerous awards and distinctions from the Charlevoix Chamber of Commerce, Tourisme Charlevoix, Bourse Rideau, Fidéides de Québec, Prix Coup d’éclat from Festivals et Événements Québec, the Grands Prix du Tourisme québécois, and the Opus Prize.

Internationally, Domaine Forget de Charlevoix was named the first “Cultural Encounter Center” outside Europe by the European organization ACCR, boosting the Domaine’s profile with high-level international partners.