Destrubé enjoys a rich and varied musical life as soloist, chamber musician, teacher, and leader of orchestras, and divides his time between playing modern instruments, and performing baroque and classical music on period instruments.
He plays with the Smithsonian Institution-based Axelrod String Quartet, the Microcosmos Quartet in Vancouver, and is a member of the Turning Point Ensemble, specializing in 20th century music and new music. He has appeared in chamber music performances on the Early Music Vancouver series and summer festival and is artistic director of the annual Pacific Baroque Festival (Victoria).
A founding member of Tafelmusik (Toronto), he went on to perform with leading European ensembles, including Anima Eterna (Belgium), the Academy of Ancient Music and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment.
As a concertmaster he has played under Simon Rattle, Roger Norrington, Kent Nagano, Helmuth Rilling, Christopher Hogwood, Philippe Herreweghe, Gustav Leonhardt and Frans Brüggen. As co-concertmaster of Brüggen’s renowned Orchestra of the 18th Century for over two decades, he toured the major concert halls and festivals of Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, as well as leading numerous performances and recordings.
A much-loved teacher, he has been a visiting artist/faculty at the Paris, Moscow and Utrecht Conservatoires, Indiana University, Case Western University, Australian National University, Sydney Conservatorium, San Francisco Conservatory, DePaul University, the MacPhail School, the Banff Centre and the University of Victoria, and has presented children’s concerts at the Cité de la Musique (Paris).
His teachers included two eminent string quartet leaders of the past century, Sandor Végh (Végh Quartet), and Norbert Brainin (Amadeus Quartet).