Born into a musical family, Gisèle Ricard found herself drawn to the piano at an early age. In the mid-1960s, she undertook studies in performance and music education at Laval University’s School of Music in Quebec City. It is there that she was first introduced to electroacoustic composition. Created in 1969 by Nil Parent, the university’s electronic music studio (SMEUL) offered Quebec’s francophone experimentalists a stimulating environment in which to create. In 1974, Ricard cofounded the Groupe d’interprétation de musique électroacoustique (GIMEL) with Parent, Marcelle Deschênes and Jean Piché. The group performed in Quebec and Ontario before traveling to Europe where it gave a series of concerts and workshops. GIMEL disbanded officially in 1977. The following year, Ricard participated in the creation of the Association de musique actuelle de Québec (AMAQ). She then partnered with Bernard Bonnier (Pierre Henry's assistant between 1972 and 1976) and founded Studio Amaryllis. In 2002, she became the general director and artistic director of the avant-garde group Erreur de type 27.