Guy Bélanger (born 24 November 1946) is a Canadian

tenor A tenor is a type of classical music, classical male singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The lo ...

opera director Crossbreed is an American industrial metal band from Clearwater, Florida, United States, formed in 1996. They were signed with Artemis Records before being dropped from the label in 2003. The band released two EPs and three full-length albums b ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, and conductor. In 2004 he was awarded the Medal of the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (officially in french: link=no, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is the legislative body of the province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; french: link=no, déput ...

Education

Born Joseph Gabriel Guy Bélanger in

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 ...

, Bélanger is the brother of string player and composer Marc Bélanger and the son of conductor

Edwin Bélanger Edwin Bélanger (18 November 1910 – 14 January 2005) was a Canadian conductor, violinist, violist, arranger, and music educator. He had an association with the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec for more than 50 years, including serving as t ...

. He began his professional education at the

Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Québec The Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Québec (CMQQ) is a music conservatory located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Founded by the Quebec government in 1944, it became the second North American music institution of higher learning to be en ...

in the 1965/1966 school year where he was a pupil of Guy Lepage. He transferred to the

Université Laval Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmo ...

in the Fall semester of 1966. He studied at Laval with Françoise Aubut (theory) and Marthe Létourneau (singing), earning a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

in 1973. He also studied singing privately with Rolande Dion.

Career

In 1968 he co-founded the non-profit opera company Société lyrique d'Aubigny, serving as that company's first artistic and musical director. With the company he regularly conducted performances and occasionally performed in roles up into the 1990s, including the title role in

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

's ''

Faust Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust ( 1480–1540). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a pact with the Devil at a crossroads ...

'' (1969) and Nadir in

Georges Bizet Georges Bizet (; 25 October 18383 June 1875) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era. Best known for his operas in a career cut short by his early death, Bizet achieved few successes before his final work, ''Carmen'', whi ...

's ''

Les pêcheurs de perles ' (''The Pearl Fishers'') is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was premiered on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in ...

'' (1974). In 1984 he founded the

Opéra de Québec Opéra de Québec or Opera of Quebec City is a Canadian opera company founded in 1983; it is related to Opéra de Montréal, founded in 1980. The company does not have its own venue but performs in the Grand Théâtre de Québec on 269 Boulevard R ...

, serving as the company's Artistic Director up until 1994. He has also worked as a guest conductor with orchestras like the

Montreal Symphony Orchestra The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only orche ...

, the

Orchestre Métropolitain The Orchestre Métropolitain (OM) is a symphony orchestra in Montréal, Québec, formed in 1981. It performs primarily in the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts but also at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier and Théâtre Maisonneuve. Outside the c ...

, and the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec among other ensembles. He was a candidate for the

Parti Québécois The Parti Québécois (; ; PQ) is a sovereignist and social democratic provincial political party in Quebec, Canada. The PQ advocates national sovereignty for Quebec involving independence of the province of Quebec from Canada and establishin ...

during the 2008 provincial election but was unsuccessful.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belanger, Guy 1946 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people) Male conductors (music) Canadian operatic tenors Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Québec alumni French Quebecers Université Laval alumni Musicians from Quebec City 21st-century Canadian conductors (music) 21st-century Canadian male musicians