Maurice Bernier (17 April 1900 – 2 December 1990) was a Canadian

journalist A journalist is a person who gathers information in the form of text, audio or pictures, processes it into a newsworthy form and disseminates it to the public. This is called journalism. Roles Journalists can work in broadcast, print, advertis ...

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, and

music critic '' The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of m ...

. He wrote music criticism for the Quebec City newspaper '' L'Événement'' from 1922 to 1932. He then worked as a reporter stationed at the

National Assembly of Quebec The National Assembly of Quebec (, ) is the Legislature, legislative body of the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec in Canada. Legislators are called MNAs (Members of the National Assembly; ). The lieutenant governor of Que ...

for the next four decades. Born in

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 ...

, Bernier was a member of a prominent family of Canadian musicians. His father was the

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 ...

Joseph-Arthur Bernier Joseph-Arthur Bernier (; 19 March 1877 – 28 April 1944) was a Canadian organist, pianist, composer, and music educator. Born in Lévis, Quebec, he was the senior member of a prominent family of musicians from Quebec City. He is the father of p ...

and he was the brother of pianist Gabrielle 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 ...

. Three of his children became successful 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 Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

. He began his musical training with his father as a child. He studied the piano with his father and later was a pupil of

Henri Gagnon Henri Gagnon (; 6 March 1887 – 17 May 1961) was a Canadian composer, organist, and music educator. He spent 51 years playing the organ at the Notre-Dame Basilica-Cathedral of Quebec City where, according to music historian François Brassard, ...

on that instrument. From 1912 to 1920 he studied the cello with J.-Alexandre Gilbert and Paul Robitaille. In 1915 he became a member of the

Quebec Symphony Orchestra 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, ...

under conductor

Joseph Vézina François-Joseph Vézina (June 11, 1849 in Quebec City – October 5, 1924 in Quebec City) was a Quebec conductor, composer, organist and music professor. Vézina is buried in the Cimetière Notre-Dame-de-Belmont in Sainte-Foy. Early life Vé ...

. He played with the orchestra for about a decade but abandoned his professional music career in favour of his work as a writer. In 1978 he wrote several articles about the Quebec Symphony Orchestra in the year of the ensemble's 75th anniversary for '' Le Mois à Québec''. Bernier died in Quebec City 2 December 1990.

References

1900 births 1990 deaths Canadian music critics Musicians from Quebec City Journalists from Quebec 20th-century Canadian male musicians 20th-century Canadian cellists {{Canada-journalist-stub