Lorraine Vaillancourt, (born September 23, 1947) is a Canadian pianist and conductor living in

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 ...

. She was born in

Arvida, Quebec Arvida ( ) is a settlement of 12,000 people (2010)Peritz, Ingrid, "Saguenay 'utopia' dreaming big again", ''The Globe and Mail'', 13 November 2010, p. A31 in Quebec, Canada, that is part of the City of Saguenay. Its name is derived from the name o ...

and studied with Hélène Landry at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Québec and with

Pierre Dervaux Pierre Dervaux (born 3 January 1917 in Juvisy-sur-Orge, France; died 20 February 1992 in Marseilles, France) was a French operatic conductor, composer, and pedagogue. At the Conservatoire de Paris, he studied counterpoint and harmony with Marcel ...

at the

École Normale de Musique de Paris The École Normale de Musique de Paris "Alfred Cortot" (ENMP) is a leading conservatoire located in Paris, Île-de-France, France. At the time of the school's foundation in 1919 by Auguste Mangeot, Alfred Cortot. The term ''école normale'' (Eng ...

. Vaillancourt studied piano with

Yvonne Loriod Yvonne Louise Georgette Loriod-Messiaen (; 20 January 1924 – 17 May 2010) was a French pianist, teacher, and composer, and the second wife of composer Olivier Messiaen. Her sister was the Ondes Martenot player Jeanne Loriod. Biography Loriod ...

and Anne-Marie de Lavilléon-Verdier; she studied

ondes Martenot The ondes Martenot ( ; , "Martenot waves") or ondes musicales ("musical waves") is an early electronic musical instrument. It is played with a keyboard or by moving a ring along a wire, creating "wavering" sounds similar to a theremin. A player ...

with Jeanne Loriod. In 1970 she returned to the University of Montreal with the intention to learn from

Serge Garant Albert Antonio Serge Garant, (September 22, 1929 – November 1, 1986) was a Canadian composer, conductor, music critic, professor of music at the University of Montreal and radio host of ''Musique de notre siècle'' on Radio-Canada.

. In 1971, Vaillancourt joined the faculty of music at the University of Montreal. From 1971 to 1973, she worked with

Bruce Mather Bruce Mather (born May 9, 1939) is a Canadians, Canadian composer, pianist, and writer who is particularly known for his contributions to contemporary classical music. One of the most notable composers of microtonal music, he was awarded the Jule ...

and

; in 1974, she became director of the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

's contemporary music workshop, replacing Mather. From 1972 to 1975, she worked at the Atelier-laboratoire of the University. In 1989, she founded the

Nouvel Ensemble Moderne Nouvel Ensemble Moderne (NEM), based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, is one of the world's premier chamber orchestras specializing in contemporary classical music. It was founded in 1989 by Lorraine Vaillancourt, who serves as the ensemble's conducto ...

, the ensemble-in-residence at the faculty of music at the University of Montreal, which has received numerous awards. She was also a founder of the concert society Événements du neuf. She has been guest conductor for the

Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumf ...

, 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 orch ...

, the Orchestre Métropolitain and the

Quebec Symphony Orchestra 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 ...

. Vaillancourt help found the contemporary music magazine ''Circuit''. She has also conducted various international ensembles including the in

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...

Les Percussions de Strasbourg Les Percussions de Strasbourg is a contemporary classical music percussion ensemble made up of six percussionists. Founded in 1962, the ensemble is still performing and commissioning music. The current lineup has played together for 15 years. Thei ...

, the Ensemble Sillages in

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

, the Orchestre de Cannes, the

RAI National Symphony Orchestra The RAI National Symphony Orchestra ( it, italic=no, Orchestra Sinfonica Nazionale della RAI) is an Italian symphony radio orchestra, owned by the public radio and television company RAI. Its primary concert venue is the Auditorium RAI in the Piaz ...

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The ...

and the

Gulbenkian Orchestra The Gulbenkian Orchestra ( pt, Orquestra Gulbenkian) is a Portuguese symphony orchestra based in Lisbon. The orchestra primarily gives concerts at the ''Grande Auditório'' (Grand Auditorium) of the Gulbenkian Foundation. The orchestra, which was f ...

in Lisbon. From 1998 to 2001, she was president of the . From 2001 to 2006, she was a member of the board of the

Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (CALQ) is a public agency founded in 1994 by the government of Quebec. CALQ offers support and funding for art projects in the performing arts, multidisciplinary arts, circus arts, visual arts, med ...

. She is also a member of the Royal Society of Canada. In 1995, she was named a Woman of Distinction by the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

. She conducted Les Percussions de Strasbourg's recording of music by

Hugues Dufourt Hugues Dufourt () is a French composer and philosopher associated with the spectral school of composition. Born in Lyon on September 28, 1943, Dufourt studied piano and composition at the Geneva Conservatory. Dufourt became co-director of the E ...

, which received the Prix Charles-Cros. In 2009, she was named an ambassador for the

Canadian Music Centre The Canadian Music Centre was founded in 1959 by a group of Canadian composers who saw a need to create a repository for Canadian music. It now holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music, and works to promote the music of its As ...

. In 2016, she received the Prix Denise-Pelletier. In 2018, she was made a Knight of the

National Order of Quebec The National Order of Quebec, termed officially in French as ''l'Ordre national du Québec'', and in English abbreviation as the Order of Quebec, is an order of merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governo ...

Lorraine_Vaillancourt_au_salle_Claude-Champagne

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaillancourt, Lorraine 1947 births Living people Canadian women pianists Knights of the National Order of Quebec Musicians from Saguenay, Quebec Prix Denise-Pelletier winners Academic staff of the Université de Montréal Women classical pianists 21st-century Canadian conductors (music) Canadian women conductors (music) 21st-century Canadian pianists 21st-century Canadian women musicians 21st-century women pianists