The Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Québec (, CMQQ) is a

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

conservatory located in

Quebec City Quebec City 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 Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, Canada. Founded by the Quebec government in 1944, it became the second

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n music institution of higher learning to be entirely state-subsidized. The conservatoire is part of a network of 7 conservatories in Quebec, the

Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec The Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec (, CMADQ) is a public network of nine state-subsidised schools offering higher education in music and theatre in Quebec, Canada. The organization was established in 1942 as a branch of th ...

(CMADQ), and was the second school in the CMADQ network to be established. Orchestra conductor Wilfrid Pelletier served as the school's first director from 1944 through 1946. The current director is Jean-Fabien Schneider.

History

At its founding, the CMQQ was located on Langelier Blvd, moving in 1950 to larger premises on

Saint Denis Street Saint Denis Street (officially in ) is a major north–south thoroughfare in Montreal, Quebec. It extends from the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel on Saint Paul Street in Old Montreal to the bank of the Rivière des Prairies at the north en ...

near the

Citadelle of Quebec The Citadelle of Quebec (), also known as , is an active military installation and the secondary official residence of the governor general of Canada. It is atop Cap Diamant, adjoining the Plains of Abraham in Quebec City, Quebec. The citadel ...

. In October 1972 the CMQQ moved to its current home inside the Grand Théâtre de Québec. In 1991, the complex housed 49 classrooms, 70 teaching and practice studios, a multi-media centre with a recording studio and electroacoustic lab, and the performance space of the theatre itself. The complex is also home to an impressive library which in 1991 included more than 60,000 documents of books, scores, monographs, periodicals, and recordings in various media formats. The CMQQ has a strong commitment to performance, and in addition to holding public concerts at the Grand Théâtre they also perform regularly at the nearby Salle Louis-Fréchette and Salle Octave-Crémazie performance halls, the Chapelle historique du Bon-Pasteur museum, and the Institut canadien de Québec. Both students and faculty regularly present public recitals in these venues, in addition to the many public concerts given by the school's orchestra, chamber orchestra,

jazz band A jazz band (jazz ensemble or jazz combo) is a musical ensemble that plays jazz music. Jazz bands vary in the quantity of its members and the style of jazz that they play but it is common to find a jazz band made up of a rhythm section and a ho ...

, wind ensemble,

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

program, choirs, and other performance groups. The school offers courses in well over 50 areas of study, ranging from early music performance studies to electroacoustic music techniques, to

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

, to

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the multidisciplinary study of music in its cultural context. The discipline investigates social, cognitive, biological, comparative, and other dimensions. Ethnomusicologists study music as a reflection of culture and investiga ...

, and

and

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

studies among many others. The school also regularly brings in guest instructors for

master class ''Master Class'' is a 1995 play by American playwright Terrence McNally, presented as a fictional master class by opera singer Maria Callas near the end of her life, in the 1970s. The play features incidental vocal music by Giuseppe Verdi, Giac ...

es which are also open to the music students of

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxe ...

. During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Canadian composer Claude Champagne put together a large report on music education. This report was presented to the Quebec government by Champagne and Wilfrid Pelletier with the hopes of establishing Canadian institutes of higher learning for music. The report closely examined music education in Europe as well as in Canada and plans were soon formed to establish a network of state-subsidized school which would be modeled after European conservatories, particularly the

Conservatoire de Paris The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

. On 29 May 1942 The Conservatory Act ('Loi du conservatoire') was passed by the

Legislative Assembly of Quebec A legislature (, ) is a deliberative assembly with the authority, legal authority to make laws for a Polity, political entity such as a Sovereign state, country, nation or city on behalf of the people therein. They are often contrasted with th ...

which allocated a $30,000 budget to form the CMADQ's first school, the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal (CMQM). The CMQM opened its doors in January 1943 with Pelletier as the school's first director and Champagne its first assistant director. With the successful opening of the CMQM, the CMADQ, under Pelletier's leadership, began plans to establish a similar conservatory in

. These plans were swiftly carried out and the school's first day of classes occurred on 17 January 1944. Most of the conservatoire's original faculty were also teachers at the CMQM and commuted back and forth between the two schools during its early years. Henri Gagnon succeeded Pelletier as the school's second director in 1946 with

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

professor Alice Duchesnay remaining on as the school's assistant director. Notable early staff members included Gilbert Darisse (violin), Maurice DeCelles (oboe), René Gagnieer (clarinet, trombone), Olga Gosselin (harp), Hélène Landry (piano), and Robert Talbot (theory) among others. In 1961 Raoul Jobin succeeded Gagnon as director, and nine years later he was in turn succeeded by Paul-Émile Talbot in 1970. Armando Santiago served as director from 1978–1985, followed by Jean Charron (1985–1988) and Wilfrand Guillemette (1988-?).

Notable alumni

* Gilles Auger, conductor * Odette Beaupré, mezzo-soprano * Larry Beauregard, flautist * Denis Bédard, composer, organist and harpsichordist *

Marc Bélanger Marc Bélanger may refer to: *Mark Belanger Mark Henry Belanger (June 8, 1944 – October 6, 1998), nicknamed "the Blade", was an American professional baseball player and coach. He played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball as a shortstop from ...

, conductor, violinist, violist, and arranger * Guy Bélanger, tenor, conductor, composer, and opera director * Françoys Bernier, pianist and conductor * Madeleine Bernier, pianist * Pierre Bourque, saxophonist * Sylvain Doyon, organist and pianist * Noëlla Genest, organist * Gaston Germain, bass * John Hawkins, composer * Bernard Jean, oboist and conductor * Philippe Magnan, oboist and English horn player * Jacqueline Martel, soprano * Sonia Racine, mezzo-soprano * Patrick Saint-Denis, composer * Jacques Simard, oboist"Jacques Simard"
Encyclopedia of Music in Canada

References

External links

Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec
{{DEFAULTSORT:Conservatoire de musique du Quebec a Quebec Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec Classical music in Canada Culture of Quebec City Music schools in Canada Education in Quebec City Educational institutions established in 1944 Schools in Quebec City Universities in Quebec 1944 establishments in Quebec

History

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links