Montreal-born Natalie Michaud is well-known in America as recorder player and teacher. Several grants from the Canada Council enabled her to study at the Royal Music Conservatory in The Hague, after which she pursued research in musicology at Université de Montréal (M.Mus.). In 1990, she joined Les Idées heureuses, a Baroque music society founded by Geneviève Soly, with whom she shares the artistic directorship. Numerous productions have evolved from this collaboration, including medieval and Renaissance programs. Although her principal interest lies in the early music repertoires, Ms. Michaud has taken part in contemporary music projects: in 1991, she was selected by the American Recorder Society to perform in the Canadian premiere of Ezra Laderman's Quintet for recorder and string quartet. Composers Martin Arnold and John Rea have since written chamber works for her. She is a teacher at McGill University.