Alain Simard (businessman)

Alain Simard (born 1950 in Montreal, Quebec) produces concerts, shows, and manages urban festivals. He conceived and founded the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, the FrancoFolies de Montréal and MONTRÉAL EN LUMIÈRE, and is also the President-CEO of L'Équipe Spectra.

Alain Simard began his career in concert production in 1969 with La Clef, a café-showroom he opened in Old Montréal, which also presented pop festivals in various arenas and venues in Montréal. In the early 1970s, he joined the ranks of Productions Kosmos, working with them to bring in major acts including Pink Floyd, Genesis, Gentle Giant, Weather Report, B.B. King and many others. In that era, he also worked as a columnist and music critic for Pop-Cycle and Pop-Rock magazines.

In 1977, Simard joined forces with André Ménard and Denyse McCann to found Spectra Scène (which would become L'Équipe Spectra), going on to present concerts by Harmonium, Beau Dommage, Dave Brubeck, Charlie Mingus, John Lee Hooker, Jean-Luc Ponty and Pat Metheny. In 1979, he created the Spectra record label, as well as Spectel Vidéo, one of the first private television production companies in Québec, which would go on to produce hundreds of programs, including the Rock et Belles Oreilles series. He also managed a number of artists including Paul Piché, Claude Dubois, Offenbach and Michel Rivard.

In 1980, he organized the very first edition of the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, which Guinness World Records now ranks as the « World's largest jazz Festival »).

He launched the Spectrum de Montréal in 1983 and co-founded Audiogram Records in 1985, operating as president until 1992. He also presided over the acquisition of Studio Morin Heights, Métropolis and the Sogestalt and Amérimage television production companies.

In 1989, he joined Jean-Louis Foulquier, founder of Francofolies de La Rochelle and Guy Latraverse in co-founding Les FrancoFolies de Montréal.

In 2000, he founded the MONTRÉAL EN LUMIÈRE festival.

In the summer of 2005, he launched a project to revitalize the vacant lots and spaces around Place des Arts, which spawned the Quartier des Spectacles Programme particulier d’urbanisme (Special Planning Program). In the summer of 2009, this project was completed with the transformation of the Blumenthal Building into the Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan, inaugurated on June 30, 2009, and the opening of the Place des Festivals, for which Simard organized the inaugural concert starring Stevie Wonder.

Alain Simard has been a member of a number of boards of directors, including those that led to founding ADISQ in 1980, Tourisme Montréal and the Partenariat du Quartier des Spectacles.

• Selected to represent Canada in Japan as part of TOYP (Ten Outstanding Young Persons). Presented with the keys to the city of Osaka and welcomed by the Minister of Culture and the Emperor at the Imperial Palace (1987)
• Awarded the Trophée Grand Ulysse at the Gala du Tourisme (1988)
• Named a Chevalier des Arts et lettres de la République française (1993)
• Awarded the Félix Hommage at the Gala de l'ADISQ for the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal (1996)
• Awarded the Prix Hommage by the Société des Fêtes et Festivals du Québec (1997)
• Presented with the McGill Management Achievement Award for his exceptional contribution to culture and the community. The award was presented by McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of Management.
• Chosen #1 from among the 25 most influential figures in January 2003 by La Presse.
• Named Personality of the Week by La Presse on four occasions (1985-1998-2001-2004)
• Honoured as a Grand Entrepreneur at the Gala Les Nouveaux Performants in February 2004.
• Named a Chevalier de l'Ordre de la Pléiade in 2004.
• Awarded the 2005 Prix de la réussite Entreprendre, male category, at the 9th Cercle Entreprendre du Québec dinner-gala.
• Named Ernst & Young 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year in Québec in the Media and Entertainment category (October 2005).
• Elected “2006 Businessman of the Year”; the award was presented during the 19th Consumer Choice Awards Gala, held in April in Montréal.
• On June 16, 2015, he was appointed Knight of l’Ordre national du Québec by the Prime Minister Philippe Couillard.