Born and raised in Montreal in a musical family, Margaret Little played violin, piano, recorder and guitar as a child. She was also part of a children’s choir and occasionally played electric guitar in a band. When she was eleven years old she discovered the viola da gamba and fell in love with it instantly! Her father was an organist and choir conductor and an addict of J. S. Bach. He was a wonderful pedagogue and a great source of inspiration to his colleagues as well as a pioneer of Early Music in Canada. Margaret started playing Bach cantatas on the violin with her father from the age of nine and still does it as often as possible on the viola.

 

After studying science and then visual arts, living in a commune and working on construction, she came back to music and the viol in her early twenties. Since then, Margaret has been performing as a soloist and a chamber musician on the viola da gamba and baroque viola with various Montreal-based and international ensembles.

 

Margaret co-founded Les Voix humaines with Susie Napper in the 1980s and was artistic co-director until 2020.  Les Voix humaines have toured the world, received critical acclaim and prestigious awards. Margaret plays regularly on both sides of the Atlantic in solo and with ensembles such as Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal, Clavecin en Concert and Capriccio Stravagante. She is invited as guest soloist on the viol for Bach’s Passions by different orchestras.

 

Margaret loves travelling and meeting other musicians in different parts of the planet. She has recorded over 100 CDs including two solo CDs, most of them for the ATMA label. She teaches the viola da gamba at Université de Montréal, the CAMMAC Music Centre, and has a private teaching studio.

 

Margaret spends her time practicing, touring, and playing with and enjoying her seven grandchildren. She loves turtles, hiking, yoga, Origami, knitting, learning Japanese and Spanish.