Jean-François Côté
A self-taught keyboard player, composer and prolific electronic musician since the 80s, Jean-François Côté is very active on the LA music scene. He has also worked with many of Quebec's leading singers and trailblazing groups. He is known for mixing existing styles seamlessly with electronic music to invent new forms.
Jean-François was a promising hockey player as an adolescent, but he discovered his true calling at the age of 16 when he started playing keyboards with rock and soul groups on the Montreal music scene, developing sounds and a style that were uniquely his own. At the same age he got a job as a security guard for the very first Cirque du Soleil show. "At night," he recalls, "I would sneak behind René Dupéré's keyboard to make music and polish my technique."
Years later Jean-François was playing keyboards for singer Julie Masse and was noticed by Cirque du Soleil composer Benoit Jutras. That encounter led to his first formal association with the company as Musical Director and Conductor for the Cirque shows "O" and Mystère. He also created the sound design for the Taiko drum sequence in the Cirque Imax film Journey of Man.
Jean-François says Cirque is one of the most stimulating environments in which to work as a composer. "In spite of its size, Cirque has remained true to its primary vocation: the creation of quality shows. The liberty they give to the creators is unequaled."
To express the human and funny aspects of KOOZA Jean-François Côté says he was inspired by Western pop music, from 70s funk to orchestral music, adding, "I also drew upon traditional Indian music and film scores from the 40s and 50s, a period I'm particularly fond of."
Jean-François Côté was born in 1968 in Montreal.