Victor Bouchard OC CQ (April 11, 1926 – March 22, 2011) was a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

pianist and composer. Bouchard received his first musical training from 1941 to 1946 at the ''Collège de Lévis'' with Father Alphonse Tardif. Then he studied at the ''Conservatoire de musique du Québec'' under Tardif (harmony),

Hélène Landry Helene or Hélène may refer to: People * Helene (name), and Hélène, a female given name, including a list of people with the name * Hélène (singer) (Hélène Rollès, born 1966), French actress and singer * Helen of Troy, a figure in Greek ...

(piano) and

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 ...

(theory). In 1950 he married pianist Renée Morisset. From 1950 to 1953 Bouchard studied in Paris, where he was a student of

Alfred Cortot Alfred Denis Cortot ( , ; 26 September 187715 June 1962) was a French pianist, conductor, and teacher who was one of the most renowned classical musicians of the 20th century. A pianist of massive repertory, he was especially valued for his po ...

and Antoine Reboulot. From 1952 he performed with his wife as a piano duo. They toured Canada, Belgium, Holland and Italy starting in the mid-1950s. After debuting at

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...

, they made many appearances in the United States between 1965 and 1970. Several composers wrote pieces for the duo. These include Clermont Pépin's ''Nombres'' for two pianos and orchestra (1963),

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 Concerto (1964) and a sonata by

Jacques Hétu Jacques Joseph Robert Hétu (August 8, 1938 – February 9, 2010) was a prominent Canadian composer and music educator. Hétu is the most frequently performed of Canadian classical composers, both within Canada and internationally. Educati ...

. For a recording of Matton's concerto, they were awarded the ''Prix Pierre-Mercure''. Bouchard was President of the ''Jeunesses musicales du Canada'' from 1957 to 1959 and in 1961 became vice president of the ''Académie de musique du Québec''. From 1967 to 1971 he worked for the Ministry of Education of Quebec, and from 1978 to 1980 as the General Director of the Quebec Conservatory. Besides chamber works (including a string quartet and a ''Danse canadienne'' for violin and piano) Bouchard composed more than 100 French-Canadian folk song arrangements.

Awards

*1964 - Prix Calixa-Lavallée ''(to the duo Bouchard-Morisset)'' *1981 - ''Membre'' de l' Ordre du Canada *1985 - ''Officier'' de l' Ordre du Canada *1994 - ''Chevalier'' de l'

Ordre national du Québec The National Order of Quebec ( French: ), also known as the Order of Quebec, is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Quebec. Instituted in 1984 when Lieutenant Governor Jean-Pierre Côté granted royal assent to the (National ...

*1997 - Académie des Grands Québécois ''(to the duo Bouchard-Morisset)'' *2002 - Médaille Gloire de l'Escolle *2004 - Prize of the foundation of the Orchestre symphonique de Québec ''(to the duo Bouchard-Morisset)''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouchard, Victor 1926 births 2011 deaths Canadian composers Canadian male composers Canadian male classical pianists Knights of the National Order of Quebec Officers of the Order of Canada 20th-century Canadian classical pianists 20th-century Canadian male musicians

Awards

See also

References