Joshua LeBlanc-Demers is a Canadian drummer and composer based in Bern, Switzerland. He specializes in large ensemble composition for contemporary improvising musicians. As a composer, Joshua’s main output is writing for his Large Ensemble in Bern, which is made up of musicians coming from both jazz and contemporary music. His work integrates the rhythmic aspects of jazz with an in-depth study of compositional techniques from 20th-century post-tonal composers. He juxtaposes the beauty that can arise from deep compositional organization with the spontaneity of inspired improvisation. As a drummer, Joshua’s playing is characterized by both delicacy and intensity situated within grooves and carefully selected soundscapes. He plays drums in Two Options Trio, Jack’s Kettle, Espar, Robot Cat, and Marco Di Bari’s Liminal.

He has a master’s degree in music composition from the Hochschule der Künste Bern, where he studied with Stefan Schultze, Django Bates, Ralph Alessi, and Jim Black. He completed his bachelor’s in Jazz Performance at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, where he studied with John Hollenbeck. Currently, Joshua works as the assistant to the director of the Orchestre National de Jazz de France, Sylvaine Hélary. 

Joshua has performed alongside Jim Black, Cansu Tanrikulu, Liz Cossack, Dan Peter Sundland, Steve Swell, Wilbert de Goode, Ziv Taubenfeld, Sarah Rossy, Claire Devlin, Charles McPherson, Camille Thurman, Renee Lee, Remi Bolduc, and Lex French. He has performed in venues throughout Europe and North America. He has played at the TD Montreal International Jazz Festival (2023), Jazzdor Festival Strasbourg (2025), Luzern Live (2024), the Bern International Jazz Festival (2024, 2025), and the Jazz Werkstatt Bern (2025).