Claude Lagacé (1 May 1917,

Sorel-Tracy Sorel-Tracy (; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada and the geographical end point of the Champlain Valley. It is located at the confluence of the Richelieu River and the St. Lawrence River, on the western edge of Lac Saint-Pierre, down ...

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, ...

– 7 February 2019,

Quebec City Quebec City 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 Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

) 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 ...

choral A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

, writer on music, 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 trained as an organist by Henri Gagnon at

Université Laval (; English: ''Laval University)'' is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The university traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663, making it the oldest institutio ...

and also studied piano with Germaine Malépart in Quebec City. He was organist-choirmaster of the Rosary Cathedral in Toledo, Ohio from 1954 to 1961. During that time he concurrently worked on the faculty of the Gregorian Institute of America; an institution whose press published his treatise ''Sixteenth-Century Counterpoint'' in 1958. In 1957 he was named an associate of the

American Guild of Organists The American Guild of Organists (AGO) is an international organization of academic, church, and concert organists in the US, headquartered in New York City with its administrative offices in the Interchurch Center. Founded as a professional educa ...

. In 1961 Lagacé returned to Canada when he was appointed organist of the

Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec The Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec ("Our Lady of Quebec City"), located at 16, rue de Buade, Quebec City, Quebec, is the primatial church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec. It is the oldest church in Canada and was the f ...

; a post he held until his retirement in 1993. Simultaneously, he worked as the assistant director of the music school at Université Laval from 1971 through 1978. When

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

visited the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec in 1984, Lagacé performed the world premiere of

Roger Matton Roger Matton OC (18 May 1929 – 7 June 2004) was a Canadian composer,Begins with the Oboe: A History of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra'. University of Toronto Press; 2002. . p. 80, 104. ethnomusicologist, and music educator. As a composer his w ...

's ''Tu es Petrus''. He performed several times on the

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programs Récitals d'orgue'' and ''Tribune de l'orgue'', and he recorded Marius Cayouette's ''Hymne pascal'' on the LP ''Hommage à Henri Gagnon'' (1974, Alpec Records).

References

1917 births 2019 deaths Academic staff of Université Laval Canadian organists Université Laval alumni Canadian men centenarians {{Canada-musician-stub