Benoît Fidèle Poirier (17 October 1882 – 7 October 1965) was a Canadian

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

,Brian Christopher Thompson.
Anthems and Minstrel Shows: The Life and Times of Calixa Lavallée, 1842-1891
'. MQUP; May 2015. . p. 19–.

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 def ...

, and

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

. He was a church organist and taught at several educational and religious institutions in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Quebec. He created a number of compositions for organ and piano.

Early life and education

Poirier was born Benjamin Perry in

Tignish, Prince Edward Island Tignish is a Canadian town located in Prince County, Prince Edward Island. It is located approximately northwest of the city of Summerside, Prince Edward Island, Summerside, and northwest of the city of Charlottetown. It has a population of 7 ...

.Robert A. Stebbins.
The French enigma: survival and development in Canada's francophone societies
'. Detselig Enterprises; 2000. . p. 110. His parents were Laurence Poirier Perry & Emelia Margaret Desroches. His pipe organ study began when he was 13. He studied at the francophone

University of St. Joseph's College The University of St. Joseph's College was the leading Acadian cultural institution, an Acadian Catholic university in Memramcook, New Brunswick that closed in 1966, when it was amalgamated with two other Catholic Acadian colleges to form the ...

Memramcook, New Brunswick Memramcook, sometimes also spelled Memramcouke or Memramkouke, is a village in Westmorland County, New Brunswick, Canada. Located in south-eastern New Brunswick, the community is predominantly people of Acadian descent who speak the Chiac de ...

, from which he earned a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

in 1902 and was granted an honorary

Master of Arts A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

in 1928. While an undergraduate there, he was also organist of St Thomas Church, Memramcook.Université de Moncton. Centre d'études acadiennes.
The Acadians of the Maritimes: thematic studies
'. Centre d'études acadiennes; 1982. p. 623.

Career

In 1903 Poirier relocated to Montreal to study for the priesthood. He taught at the

Collège de Montréal The Collège de Montréal () is a subsidized private high school for students attending grades 7–11 located in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A former Roman Catholic minor seminary, it was founded on June 1, 1767 as the ''Petit Séminai ...

and became the organist of the Séminaire de Philosophie. In 1919 he was elected to the board of the

Schola cantorum The Schola Cantorum de Paris ( being ) is a private conservatory in Paris. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Bordes, Alexandre Guilmant and Vincent d'Indy as a counterbalance to the Paris Conservatoire's emphasis on opera. History The Schol ...

, later serving as its president from 1923 to 1925. He was the director of the Conservatoire national de musique from 1923 to 1925 and also served on the school's board of examiners for many years. From 1921 to 1925 he taught at the Sacré-Coeur Convent, Sault-au-Récollet, Quebec. From 1953 to 1959 he was the director and principal teacher of the Conservatoire Royal de Montréal. His notable pupils included Eugène Lapierre and Alfred Tardif. Pourier was organist at a number of churches in Montreal, including Ste-Hélène (1906),

St. Patrick's Basilica, Montreal Saint Patrick's Basilica () is a Roman Catholic minor basilica on René-Lévesque Boulevard in Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. History The church is known for its historic links to the Irish Canadian community. St. Patrick's celebrated its ...

(1908), Saint-Vincent-de-Paul Church (1909), and St-Jacques Cathedral (1914). In 1921 he succeeded Joseph-Daniel Dussault as the organist at Notre-Dame Basilica, remaining in that post through 1954.
À rayons ouverts: bulletin de la Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
'. La Bibliothèque; 1988. p. 3. During these years he regularly presented organ recitals. Pourier created a number of compositions during his career,Centre de recherche en civilisation canadienne-franCaise.
Francophonies D'Amerique 6
'. Les Presses de l'Universite d'Ottawa; 1 December 1996. . p. 126.Jules Tremblay.
Sainte-Anne d'Ottawa: un résumé d'histoire, 1873-1923
'. Cie d'Imprimerie d'Ottawa; 1925. p. 260. including several

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the preeminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to the Eng ...

s, patriotic songs, and works for solo

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

and

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

, the latter being most well-known. He died in

Laval, Quebec Laval is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in Can ...

. In 1978, Barry Waterlow performed two Radio Canada radio broadcasts of Poirier's organ music on the historic Louis Mitchell organ of

, the organ that inspired Poirier to become an organist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poirier, Benoit 1882 births 1965 deaths Canadian composers Canadian male composers Canadian male organists Academic staff of the Conservatoire national de musique Canadian music educators St. Joseph's College alumni Musicians from Prince Edward Island People from Tignish, Prince Edward Island 20th-century Canadian organists 20th-century Canadian male musicians