Marie Antoinette Jeannine Vanier (b. 21 August 1929) is a Canadian composer and organist who was born blind. Vanier was born in the Laval-des-Rapides neighbourhood of

Laval 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, Luxem ...

, Quebec, to Émile and Alice Laurin Vanier. Her father was an engineer. She began her studies at the Nazareth Institute for the Blind, then earned a Bachelor of Music (1950) and a Licentiate of Music (1952) at the University of Montreal. Among her teachers were

Françoise Aubut Françoise Aubut-Pratte, née Aubut (5 September 1922 – 8 October 1984) was a Canadian concert organist, and music teacher. Life Born in Saint-Jérôme (Quebec), a great-granddaughter of Calixa Lavallée, she began her piano studies at the a ...

, Jean Papineau-Couture, Roger Filiatrault, Conrad Letendre, Georges Lindsay, Clermont Pépin, and

Jean Vallerand Jean Vallerand, CQ (December 24, 1915 – June 24, 1994) was a composer, music critic, violinist, conductor, arts administrator, writer, and music educator from Quebec. As a composer he was active from 1935 to 1969. An associate of the Canadian ...

. Vanier has received several awards for her compositions and musical performances, including: *Second Prize, Casavat Organ Society Competition (1948) *First Prize, Royal Canadian College of Organists (1952) *Sarah Fischer Concerts Scholarship (1959) *CAMMAC (

Canadian Amateur Musicians Canadian Amateur Musicians/Musiciens Amateurs du Canada is a nonprofit organization supporting amateur music making at all ages and levels. It is commonly known by its acronym, CAMMAC. CAMMAC runs a summer music centre (CAMMAC Lake MacDonald in th ...

) Competition (1962) Vanier has served as the organist at several churches in Canada: St. Paul de la Croix (1952-1974) St. Bernardin de Sienne (1978), St. Léon de Westmount (1979-81), St. Casimir (1983-5), and St. André Apôtre (1989-94). She also taught music at the Nazareth Institute and the University of Montreal. Her manuscripts are archived at the Bibliothèque du Quebec. In retirement, Vanier copies scores and piano methods in Braille for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind. She says, "You have to try to help others so as not to worry too much about yourself. Every morning I say a prayer of gratitude.” Vanier's music is published by

Waterloo Music Company The Waterloo Music Company was a Canadian music publishing and musical instrument retailing firm that was founded in 1921 by Charles F. Thiele in Waterloo, Ontario. During its more than eight decade history, the company published works by a large ...

and Berandol Music Limited/BMI. Her compositions include: *Cinq Pieces pour Enfants (piano) *Fantasia for Recorder Trio *Salve Regina (chorus and orchestra)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanier, Jeannine 1929 births Living people Blind classical musicians Canadian classical composers Canadian organists Canadian women classical composers Musicians from Quebec People from Laval, Quebec French Quebecers