James Ashley Corcoran (born 10 February 1949 in

Sherbrooke Sherbrooke ( ; ) is a city in southern Quebec, Canada. It is at the confluence of the Saint-François and Magog rivers in the heart of the Estrie administrative region. Sherbrooke is also the name of a territory equivalent to a regional cou ...

, Quebec) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and former broadcaster.

Biography

Jim Corcoran was born in Sherbrooke, but went to high school and obtained his

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, Massachusetts in the late 1960s. The former

seminarian A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

returned to his native Quebec in 1970 with the idea to continue his studies at

Bishop's University Bishop's University (french: Université Bishop's) is a small English-language liberal arts university in Lennoxville, a borough of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. The founder of the institution was the Anglican Bishop of Quebec, George Mountain, w ...

Lennoxville Lennoxville is an ''arrondissement'', or borough, of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Lennoxville is located at the confluence of the St. Francis and Massawippi Rivers approximately five kilometres south of downtown Sherbrooke. Lennoxv ...

before becoming a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

professor. Corcoran received his B.A. from Bishop's University in 1973 In his free time Corcoran taught himself guitar. His first language is English, but he has spent most of his musical career singing in French. In 1972, he formed the duo ''Jim et Bertrand'' with Bertrand Gosselin and they began performing in the Eastern Townships. During the 1970s, the group was associated with Quebec

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

. Corcoran began a solo career in francophone music after the group disbanded in 1979. From 1988 to 2018, Corcoran hosted 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 ...

program ''

À Propos ''À Propos'' (French for ''By the Way'') was a Canadian radio program, which aired from 1988 to 2018.

'', a program presenting the francophone popular music scene of Quebec, Canada and the world to the English network's audience."Jim Corcoran bridges French-English divide on CBC Radio show"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', 10 May 2013. After producer Frank Opolko suggested that Corcoran provide English translations of some of Quebec's most popular songs, the show started to find a large English audience. After announcing his retirement from broadcasting, he hosted the final episode of ''À Propos'' on 2 September 2018; the following week, a new program ''

C'est formidable! ''C'est formidable!'' is a Canadian radio show, which airs Sundays on CBC Music and Saturdays on CBC Radio One. Hosted by Florence Khoriaty, the program airs a selection of French language music from Quebec, France and other francophone countries ...

'', hosted by Florence Khoriaty, made its debut. It is produced and recorded by Frank Opolko. He wrote music for

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

's productions '' KÀ'', ''

Quidam ''Quidam'' ( ) was the ninth stage show produced by Cirque du Soleil. It premiered in April 1996 and has been watched by millions of spectators around the world. ''Quidam'' originated as a big-top show in Montreal and was converted into an arena ...

'' and '' Wintuk''. "Let Me Fall", a song Corcoran co-wrote with

Benoît Jutras Benoît Jutras (born 1963) is a Canadian composer. Jutras is best known for his work with the Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil, first as music director and later as composer for several of the company's contemporary circus shows ...

for ''Quidam'', was recorded by

Josh Groban Joshua Winslow Groban (born February 27, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. His first four solo albums have been certified multi-platinum, and he was charted in 2007 as the number-one best selling artist in the United States, wi ...

for his self-titled album. Corcoran also portrayed the part of David in performances of the opera ''Nelligan'' in 1990. Bishop's University granted Corcoran an honorary

Doctor of Civil Law Doctor of Civil Law (DCL; la, Legis Civilis Doctor or Juris Civilis Doctor) is a degree offered by some universities, such as the University of Oxford, instead of the more common Doctor of Laws (LLD) degrees. At Oxford, the degree is a higher ...

on 29 October 2004.

Awards and recognition

*1981:

Félix Award The Félix Award (french: Trophée Félix or Prix Félix) is an award, given by the ''Association du disque, de l'industrie du spectacle québécois'' ( ADISQ) on an annual basis to artists working in the music and humor industry in the Canadian ...

: Best folk record, ''Têtu'' *1984: Spa Festival, Belgium: Best francophone song, "J'ai fait mon chemin seul" *1987: Prix CIEL-Raymond Lévesque *1990:

: Best singer-songwriter, ''Corcoran'' *2006: Juno Award: Francophone Album of the Year, ''Pages blanches'' *2016: Induction to the

Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (''Panthéon des Auteurs et Compositeurs canadiens'') is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1998 by Frank Davies, that inducts Canadians into their ''Hall of Fame'' within three different categori ...

for his song, "J’ai la tête en gigue" *2022:

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the cen ...

, with the rank of Officer.

Discography

With Bertrand Gosselin (Jim & Bertrand) * 1972: ''Jim Corcoran & Bertrand Gosselin'' * 1975: ''Île d'entrée'' * 1977: ''La Tête en Gigue'' * 1979: ''À l'abri de la Tempête'' In Solo * 1981: ''Têtu'' * 1983: ''Plaisirs'' * 1986: ''Miss Kalabash'' * 1990: ''Corcoran'' * 1994: ''Zola à vélo'' * 1996: ''Portraits'' * 2000: ''Entre tout et moi'' * 2005: ''Pages blanches''

Videography

* 1986: ''Djeddhy Duvah (En chair et en os)'' * 1986: ''Perdus dans le même décor'' * 1990: ''C'est pour ça que je t'aime'' * 1990: ''Ton amour est trop lourd'' * 1990: ''Je me tutoie'' * 1990: ''La Nostalgie'' * 1990: ''Le Boogie'' * 1994: ''L'Amour n'est pas éternel'' * 2001: ''On s'est presque touché'' * 2001: ''J'vais changer le monde'' * 2002: ''Mme Poupart'' * 2005: ''Éloge du doute'' * 2007: ''Docteur Gamache''

References

External links

*
Quebec Info Musique: Biography

''The Canadian Encyclopedia'': Jim Corcoran

CBC Radio: ''À Propos''
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Corcoran, Jim 1949 births Living people Canadian singer-songwriters Canadian male singers Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year winners Musicians from Sherbrooke Anglophone Quebec people Quebec people of Irish descent CBC Radio hosts Audiogram (label) artists French-language singers of Canada Bishop's University alumni Canadian expatriates in the United States Félix Award winners Canadian male singer-songwriters Officers of the Order of Canada Musicians from Montreal