Claude Lagacé (1 May 1917, Sorel-Tracy,

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

– 7 February 2019,

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

) was a Canadian

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

conductor, writer on music, and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

. He was trained as an organist by

Henri Gagnon Henri Gagnon (6 March 1887 – 17 May 1961) was a Canadian composer, organist, and music educator. He spent 51 years playing the organ at the Notre-Dame Basilica-Cathedral of Quebec City where, according to music historian François Brassard, h ...

at Université Laval and also studied piano with

Germaine Malépart Germaine Malépart (July 7, 1898 – April 19, 1963) was a Canadian pianist and music educator. She was born in Saint-Vincent-de-Paul (now Laval, Quebec) and began taking piano lessons with at the age of 7. When she was 13, she performed for ...

in Quebec City. He was organist-choirmaster of the Rosary Cathedral in Toledo, Ohio from 1954 to 1961. During that time he concurrently worked on the faculty of the Gregorian Institute of America; an institution whose press published his treatise ''Sixteenth-Century Counterpoint'' in 1958. In 1957 he was named an associate of the American Guild of Organists. In 1961 Lagacé returned to Canada when he was appointed organist of the

Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec The Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec ("Our Lady of Quebec City"), located at 16, rue de Buade, Quebec City, Quebec, is the primatial church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec. It is the oldest church in Canada and was the fi ...

; a post he held until his retirement in 1993. Simultaneously, he worked as the assistant director of the music school at Université Laval from 1971 through 1978. When

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

visited the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec in 1984, Lagacé performed the world premiere of

Roger Matton Roger Matton OC (18 May 1929 – 7 June 2004) was a Canadian composer,Begins with the Oboe: A History of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra'. University of Toronto Press; 2002. . p. 80, 104. ethnomusicologist, and music educator. As a composer his wo ...

's ''Tu es Petrus''. He performed several times on the

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

programs Récitals d'orgue'' and ''Tribune de l'orgue'', and he recorded

Marius Cayouette Marius Cayouette (3 November 1904, Sainte-Justine, Quebec – 16 March 1985, Quebec City) was a Canadian organist, composer, and music educator. As a composer, he is best known for his works for organ, including ''Deux Ex-voto'', Offertoire on ''Hod ...

's ''Hymne pascal'' on the LP ''Hommage à Henri Gagnon'' (1974, Alpec Records).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lagacé, Claude 1917 births 2019 deaths Academic staff of Université Laval Canadian organists Université Laval alumni Canadian centenarians Men centenarians