Joseph-Arthur Bernier (; 19 March 1877 – 28 April 1944) 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 ...

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, ...

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 ...

. Born in Lévis, Quebec, he was the senior member of a prominent family of musicians from

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 ...

. He is the father of pianist Gabrielle Bernier, cellist Maurice Bernier, and composer and keyboardist

Conrad Bernier Conrad Bernier (9 May 1904 – 7 November 1988) was a French-Canadian organist, composer, conductor and teacher. For many years he was a professor at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. Early life and education Born into a f ...

, and the grandfather of musicians

Françoys Bernier Françoys Joseph Arthur Maurice Bernier (12 July 19273 February 1993) was a Canadian pianist, conductor, radio producer, arts administrator, and music educator. He served as the music director of the Montreal Festivals from 1956 to 1960 and was a ...

, Madeleine Bernier, and Pierre Bernier. His compositional output includes 4 masses, 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, pieces for solo organ, a ''Berceuse'' for violin, a ''Pastorale'' for oboe, a ''Cantilène'' for cello, and a ''Mazurka'' for piano. Bernier was a pupil of Gustave Gagnon and Philéas Roy in Quebec City, and

Alexandre Guilmant Félix-Alexandre Guilmant (; 12 March 1837 – 29 March 1911) was a French organist and composer. He was the organist of La Trinité from 1871 until 1901. A noted pedagogue, performer, and improviser, Guilmant helped found the Schola Canto ...

and Félix Fourdrain in Paris. He served as organist at several churches in Quebec City, including St-Sauveur Church (1892–1908), Notre-Dame-de-Jacques-Cartier Church (1908–17), and St-Jean-Baptiste Church (1917–1944). He also gave recitals throughout the United States and Canada during the first two decades of the 20th century. He was president of the Académie de musique du Québec in 1910-11 and 1912–13, and taught on the music faculty 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 ...

from 1922 to 1944. His notable students include Clotilde Coulombe, Rolland-G. Gingras, Omer Létourneau, and

Georges-Émile Tanguay Georges-Émile Tanguay (5 June 1893 – 24 November 1964) was a Canadian composer, organist, pianist, and music educator. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output is relatively small; consisting of 4 orchestral wor ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bernier, Joseph Arthur 1877 births 1944 deaths Canadian composers Canadian male composers Canadian organists Canadian male organists Canadian classical pianists Canadian music educators People from Lévis, Quebec Academic staff of Université Laval Canadian male pianists