François Boucher (1860c. 1936) was a Canadian
violinist and
music educator.
Born in
Montreal, Boucher was the son of Canadian publisher and musician
Adélard Joseph Boucher and the brother of conductor
Joseph-Arthur Boucher. His initial violin studies were with
Jules Hone and
Frantz Jehin-Prume. In 1876 he went to Europe to study at the
Royal Conservatory of Liège with
Lambert Massart. After returning to Canada, he had a triumphant success in Montreal performing
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...
's ''
Violin Concerto in E minor, Op. 64'' in 1881. In 1882 he and his father established a successful music store in Ottawa. That same year he began playing first violin in a string quartet and working as a teacher. In 1887 he joined the faculty of the
Toronto Conservatory of Music. He taught concurrently at the
Toronto College of Music
The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...
beginning in 1889. He was a soloist with the
Toronto Philharmonic Society The Toronto Philharmonic Society was one of the first secular music organizations in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Society included both singers and instrumentalists.
History
The Society was founded in 1845 by John McCaul, who was at the time pres ...
in 1893 where he had success performing
Max Bruch's ''
Violin Concerto No. 1''. In 1894 he emigrated to the United States. In 1906 he joined the faculty of the
Kansas City Conservatory of Music
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the we ...
, where he taught through 1923. His wife taught piano at the conservatory and his daughter was later a singing teacher at the school. He died in
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boucher, Francois
1860 births
1930s deaths
Canadian classical violinists
Male classical violinists
Canadian music educators
Violin pedagogues
Royal Conservatory of Liège alumni
The Royal Conservatory of Music faculty
Toronto College of Music faculty
19th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers
20th-century Canadian violinists and fiddlers
Canadian male violinists and fiddlers