Conservatoire national de musique was a

music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

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 ...

that was actively providing

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music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspect ...

during the first eight decades of the 20th century. Founded in 1905 by Alphonse Lavallée-Smith as the Conservatoire national de musique et de l'élocution, the school gained the official right to teach music, diction, elocution, drawing, and painting and to grant diplomas through a 1906 letters patent from Secretary of State

Richard William Scott Sir Richard William Scott, (February 24, 1825 – April 23, 1913) was a Canadian politician and cabinet minister. Early life He was born in Prescott, Ontario, in 1825, a descendant of a family from County Clare. A lawyer by training, Scott ...

. A few years later it was renamed the Consservatoire national Ltée. By 1912 the conservatoire had granted 250 diplomas. Jean-Noël Charbonneau served as the school's director from 1915-1922 followed by

Benoît Poirier Benoît Fidèle Poirier (17 October 1882 – 7 October 1965) was a Canadian organist,Brian Christopher Thompson. Anthems and Minstrel Shows: The Life and Times of Calixa Lavallée, 1842-1891'. MQUP; May 2015. . p. 19–. composer, and mus ...

from 1923-1925. In 1921 the conservatoire became affiliated with the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

(UM) and from here on was known as the Conservatoire national de musique.

Eugène Lapierre Eugène Lapierre (8 June 1899 – 21 October 1970) was a Canadian organist, composer, journalist, writer on music, arts administrator, and music educator. He was awarded the King George V Silver Jubilee Medal in 1935 and the King George VI Corona ...

, who had been the conservatory's secretary since 1922, was appointed the school's director kn 1927, a post he held until 1970. He notably reorganized the institution in the model of a European conservatory in 1928, having visited numerous European school's from 1924-1927. This restructuring was made possible through the generous financial support of Edmond Archambault of Archambault Musique and Joseph Versailles, and through the administrative help of Lapierre's brother Albert, Alexandre d'Aragon, and

Antonio Létourneau Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...

. In 1951 the conservatoire broke its ties with the UM and resumed independent management. Élise Chapdelaine, who had been secretary since 1940, served as interim director following Lapierre's death in 1970. Édouard Woolley, a graduate of the institution, was director in 1971-5 and was succeeded by the school's last director, Chapdelaine.

Notable alumni

Gaston Allaire Joseph Georges-Émile Gaston Allaire (18 June 1916 – 15 January 2011) was a Canadian musicologist, organist, pianist, composer, and music educator of American birth."Gaston Allaire, un musicologue qui pursuit son oeuvre à 72 ans", Montrea ...

Émilien Allard Émilien Allard (12 June 1915 – 18 November 1976) was a Canadian carillonneur and composer. He composed more than 50 works for carillon and made more than 700 transcriptions of carillon music; many of which are still performed in Europe and ...

* Françoise Aubut *

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Albertine Caron-Legris Albertine Caron-Legris (1906–1972) was a Canadian pianist, composer and music educator. Many of her manuscripts and personal papers are held in the collection at the Library and Archives Canada. Early life Born Albertine Caron in Louiseville, Q ...

Claude Champagne Claude Champagne (27 May 1891 – 21 December 1965) was a French Canadian composer, teacher, pianist, and violinist. Early life and education Born as Joseph-Arthur-Adonaï Claude Champagne in Montreal, Quebec, Champagne began piano and theo ...

Lucien Martin Lucien Martin (30 May 1908 – 29 October 1950) was a Canadian violinist, conductor, and composer. Only one of his compositions was published, the art song ''La Chanson des belles'', which was performed by Jeanne Desjardins in its premiere on t ...

* Colombe Pelletier *

Paul Pratt Paul Pratt (25 November 1894 – 8 May 1967) was a Canadian clarinetist, pianist, conductor, music educator, composer, and public administrator. His compositional output includes marches, waltzes, a ''Fantaisie-Impromptu'' for band, and so ...

Notable faculty

Victoria Cartier Victoria Cartier (b. Sorel, Quebec, 4 Apr 1867, d. Montreal 1 Jan 1955) was a Canadian pianist, organist and music educator, who was named an officer of the French Académie and Instruction publique . She was a niece of Sir George-Étienne Carti ...

Albert Chamberland Albert Chamberland (12 October 1886 – 4 April 1975) was a Canadian violinist, composer, conductor, music producer, and music educator. As a violinist he performed as a chamber musician with a number of ensembles, including the Beethove ...

* Jean-Noël Charbonneau *

Eugène Chartier Eugène Chartier (1893 – 1 November 1963) was a Canadian violinist, violist, conductor, and teacher. Born in Montreal, Chartier studied the violin with Alfred De Sève and Oscar Martel. He played second violin with the Dubois String Quartet fr ...

Alexis Contant Joseph Pierre Alexis Contant (12 November 1858 – 28 November 1918) was a Canadian composer, organist, pianist, and music educator. Trained as a pianist, he became one of the first Canadians to compose large-scale choral and orchestral works, i ...

* Camille Couture *

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* Orpha-F. Deveaux *

J.-J. Gagnier Jean-Josaphat Gagnier (2 December 1885 – 16 September 1949) was a Canadian conducting, conductor, composer, clarinetist, bassoonist, pianist, arts administrator, and music educator. His compositional output mainly consists of works for orchestr ...

François Héraly J. A. François Héraly (1856 – between 20 and 22 July 1920) was a Canadian clarinetist, bandmaster, and music educator of Belgian birth. Born in the small town of Flavin near Namur, Héraly began studying music privately in 1867 in Bruss ...

Alfred La Liberté Alfred La Liberté (10 February 1882 – 7 May 1952) was a Canadian composer, pianist, writer on music, and music educator. He was a disciple and close personal friend of Alexander Scriabin. He was also an admirer of Marcel Dupré and Nikol ...

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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 ...

Rodolphe Mathieu Joseph Rodolphe Mathieu (10 July 1890 – 29 June 1962) was a Canadian composer, pianist, writer on music, and music educator. ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'' states, "Considered too avant-garde for his time because of Debussy's influence on his ...

* Léo-Pol Morin *

Albertine Morin-Labrecque Albertine Morin-Labrecque (sometimes Labrecque-Morin) (8 June 1886 – 22 or 25 September 1957) was a Canadian pianist, soprano, composer, and music educator. Her compositional output includes 4 ballets, 2 comic operas, the Chinese Opera ' ...

Frédéric Pelletier Frédéric Pelletier (1 May 1870 – 30 May 1944) was a Canadian choir conductor, music educator, composer, music critic, journalist, civil servant, military officer, and physician. He was one of the principal music critics in Montreal ...

* Marcel Saucier * Joseph-Élie Savaria *

Benoît Verdickt Benoît Verdickt (27 September 1884 – 28 April 1970) was a Canadian organist, choirmaster, composer, and music educator of Belgian birth.Leen D'Haenens. Images of Canadianness'. University of Ottawa Press; 1998. . p. 82–. His compositional out ...

References

{{authority control Classical music in Canada Performing arts in Montreal Music schools in Canada Education in Montreal Educational institutions established in 1905 Schools in Montreal 1905 establishments in Quebec