Marcelle Deschênes-Harvey born in Price near Rimouski, Québec (born 2 March 1939) is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

multi-media artist, music educator and composer of electroacoustic music. She was a professor at the University of Montreal.

Early life and education

Marcelle Deschênes was born near

Rimouski Rimouski ( ; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. Rimouski is located in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region, at the mouth of the Rimouski River. It has a population of 48,935 (as of 2021). Rimouski, whose motto is ''Legi patrum fidelis'' (Faithful to ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. She graduated with a bachelor's and master's degree from the

University of Montreal A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, studying from 1963 to 1967 with

Jean Papineau-Couture Jean Papineau-Couture, (; November 12, 1916August 11, 2000) was a Canadian composer and academic. Born in Montreal, Papineau-Couture was the grandson of conductor and composer Guillaume Couture. As a child he studied piano with his mother. H ...

and

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 1966, ...

. She continued her education in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

with

François Bayle François Bayle (born 27 April 1932 in Toamasina, Madagascar) is a composer of Electronic Music, Musique concrète. He coined the term '' Acousmatic Music''. Career In the 1950s he studied with Olivier Messiaen, Pierre Schaeffer and Karlheinz Sto ...

, Henri Chiarucci, and Guy Reibel of the Groupe de Recherches musicales de

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

.Elaine Keillor.
Music in Canada: Capturing Landscape and Diversity
'. McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP; 18 March 2008. . p. 278–. She also studied audio-visual techniques at the Pierre Schaeffer's Conservatoire and analysis at the École César-Franck with

Olivier Alain Olivier Georges Alain (3 August 1918 – 28 February 1994) was a French organist, pianist, musicologist and composer. Life Alain was born in Saint-Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, into a musical family. His father was the organist and composer Albe ...

. At the University of Paris, she studied with

Daniel Charles Daniel Paul Charles was a French musician, musicologist and philosopher. He was born on 27 November 1935 in Oran (Algeria) and died on 21 August 2008 in Antibes (France). Biography He was a student of Olivier Messiaen at the Paris Conservator ...

, Claude Laloum and

Jean-Étienne Marie Jean-Étienne Marie (; 22 November 1917 – 25 December 1989) was a French composer of contemporary music. He is an important figure in the history and exploration of Microtonal music and electroacoustic. Biography Born in Pont-l'Évêque, C ...

Career

While completing her studies, Deschênes created several multi-media works. She returned to Canada in 1971 and took a teaching and research position at the electronic music studio of

Laval University Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxe ...

, where she helped organize a sound library and composed the soundtracks for several films. In 1979 she founded the electroacoustic studio Bruit Blanc. In 1980 Deschênes took a position as professor of music at the University of Montreal, teaching the composition of electroacoustic music.Sophie Stévance.
Composer au XXIe siècle: pratiques, philosophies, langages et analyses
'. Vrin; 2010. . p. 47–. In collaboration with visual artists,Françoise Tétu de Labsade.
Le Québec: Un pays, une culture
'. Boréal (Editions du); 1990. . p. 360. she continued to create and exhibit multimedia projects, including ''OPÉRAaaaAH!'' in 1983.

Honors and awards

*First prize for mixed-media music at the sixth Concours international de musique électroacoustique in

Bourges Bourges ( ; ; ''Borges'' in Berrichon) is a commune in central France on the river Yèvre (Cher), Yèvre. It is the capital of the Departments of France, department of Cher (department), Cher, and also was the capital city of the former provin ...

in 1978 *Gold medal at the Multi-Images international competition in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(1989)

Works

Deschênes composes multimedia works and film soundtracks. Selected works include: *''1'' (1966) *''Voz'' (cantate mitrailleuse) (1968) *''7+7+7+7 ou aussi progressions sur la circonférence du jaune au rouge par l'orange ou du rouge au bleu par le violet, ou même embrassant le pourtour total'' (1968) *''Talilalilalilalarequiem'' (1970) *''Amertube'' film soundtrack (1973) *''Le Phasé mou'' film soundtrack (1973) *''Le Port de Montréal'' film soundtrack (1975) *''Moll, Opéra-Lilliput pour six roches molles'' (1976) *''OPÉRAaaaAH!'' (1983) *''L'Écran humain,'' (1983) *''deUSirae'' (1985) *''Lux'' (1985) in collaboration with Renée Bourassa *''Big Bang'' (1987) *''Noël réinventé'' (1988) *''Ludi'' (1990), opera-theatre work with Renée Bourassa Her works have been recorded and issued on CD, including: *''Big Bang II'' (1990) *''Halogènes'' (1991)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deschenes, Marcelle 1939 births Living people 20th-century Canadian classical composers Canadian music educators Canadian women classical composers Canadian women music educators Canadian women in electronic music 20th-century Canadian women composers 20th-century Canadian women artists