The Ensemble Claude-Gervais was formed in Montreal in 1967 by four flutists or recorder players: Gilles Plante, François Barre, Jean Gagné, and Joseph Guilmette.
The group took its name from Claude Gervaise, a French Renaissance composer, editor and arranger (fl.
The current group maintains a core of ten members, all of whom are also singers and dancers.
Two years later, at the 1990 Festival international de Lanaudière, they performed music from the court of Francis I of France.
The ensemble maintains a large collection of over three hundred string, wind and percussion instruments.