The 2007 Juno Award-winning Les Violons du Roy are back with Handel’s irrepressibly joyous Water Music. Originally scored for wind ensemble and famously performed on a barge in the Thames River, the suite was composed in honour of King George I and published in 1740 under its well-known title. This recording features a full complement of strings, continuo, winds, horns and trumpets. Bernard Labadie is a leading musical figure in Québec and beyond. As the founding conductor of Les Violons du Roy, he makes regular appearances at key venues in North America (Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall in New York, Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, Kennedy Center in Washington, Roy Thomson Hall and Massey Hall in Toronto) and Europe (the Barbican in London, the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, the Salzburg Festival, the Schleswig-Holstein Festival). He also conducts the regular seasons of the ensemble in Québec City and Montréal.