Kerry Bursey is a Canadian tenor and plucked string instrumentalist from Montréal. An early music specialist and a versatile singer, he is acclaimed for his “clear voice, made of dreamy troubadouresque sweetness” (Ôlyrix) and “beneficent tenderness” (Le Temps). He is a sought-after lutenist and guitarist, notably invested in self-accompaniment, from lute songs to folk music.  Recently, he made his European debut as a soloist at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, Manchester International Festival, Bregenzerfestspieler and the Southbank Centre. In 2024, he will sing at the Muzikgebouw in Amsterdam and at the Ruhrtriennale.

 

He regularly works as a soloist with early music groups such as Ensemble Caprice, Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, Harmonie des Saisons, Theatre of Early Music, les Idées Heureuses, la Nef, Pallade Musica, Infusion Baroque and Clavecin en Concert. He tours internationally with his ensemble, Ménestrel, co-founded with soprano Janelle Lucyk. He is a member of Quartom, the leading classical vocal quartet in Québec.

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Kerry is frequently hired as a session musician and creative collaborator because of his broad musical output, from pop to video games. He composed and performed the soundtrack of  award-winning thriller,  444, which premiered at Fantasia Festival, and worked on the sci-fi movie Mistral Spatial. He frequently works with Ubisoft and notably sang gregorian chants as a monk in the game Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla. 

 

Kerry holds a masters’s degree in classical guitar from the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal and has studied voice performance at McGill University. He was a winner at the 2011 Grand Prix de Guitare de Montréal.