Gérard Caron (2 April 1916 – 19 January 1986) 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 ...

and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. Born in St-Martin-de-Beauce, Quebec, Caron studied at the Conservatoire national de musique, the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (; UdeM; ) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce on M ...

, the

Accademia Musicale Chigiana The Accademia Musicale Chigiana (''English'': Chigiana Musical Academy) is a music institute in Siena, Italy. It was founded by Count Guido Chigi-Saracini in 1932 as an international centre for advanced musical studies. It organises Master Class ...

in Sienna, Italy, and privately with Fernando Germani in Rome. He held organist posts at several notable cathedrals, including Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, Quebec City, Saint-Jean-Berchmans Church in Montreal, and in Manhattan, New York City, at the French church of

St. Vincent de Paul Vincent de Paul, Congregation of the Mission, CM (24 April 1581 – 27 September 1660), commonly known as Saint Vincent de Paul, was an Occitans, Occitan French Priesthood in the Catholic Church, Catholic priest who dedicated himself to serving ...

, St. Patrick's Cathedral, and St. Jean Baptiste Catholic Church. He performed as a concert pianist and organist throughout North America, and in Florence, Turin, and Rome. Caron served as the regular accompanist for singers

Pierrette Alarie Pierrette Alarie, (November 9, 1921 – July 10, 2011) was a French Canadian coloratura soprano. She was married to the French-Canadian tenor Léopold Simoneau. Life and career Born in Montreal, Quebec, Alarie was the daughter of a choirmaster ...

and Léopold Simoneau. Caron died at the age of 69 in Montreal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Caron, Gerard 1916 births 1986 deaths Accademia Musicale Chigiana alumni Canadian male classical organists Conservatoire national de musique alumni Musicians from Quebec Université de Montréal alumni People from Chaudière-Appalaches 20th-century Canadian classical pianists 20th-century Canadian organists 20th-century Canadian male musicians