Search for "New France"

Snjolaug (Anna) Sigurdson. Pianist, teacher, b Arborg, north of Winnipeg, 5 Nov 1914, d Winnipeg 22 Aug 1979; ATCM 1932, LRSM 1933, LMM 1936. She studied with Eva Clare in Winnipeg, and then with Ernest Hutcheson and Muriel Kerr in New York.

Pierre Mollet. Baritone, teacher, organizer, choir conductor, b Neuchâtel, Switzerland, 23 Mar 1920, naturalized Canadian 1974, d Montréal 22 Oct 2007; premier prix performance (Lausanne Cons) 1946.

Walter Charles Murray, educator (b at Studholm, NB 12 May 1866; d at Saskatoon 24 Mar 1945). A philosophy professor at the University of New Brunswick and Dalhousie, Murray became president of UNIVERSITY OF SASKATCHEWAN in 1908, a position he held for 29 years.

Mary Henderson. Soprano, teacher, b Longueuil (near Montreal) 17 Dec 1912. A study of the violin, begun at 10, led to a licentiate from McGill University. Her vocal studies, begun with Henri Pontbriand and Pauline Donalda in Montreal, were pursued in New York with C.

Antoine Rodrigue Albert Bouchard, organist, teacher, composer (born 22 March 1932 in St-Philippe-de-Néri, QC; died 21 October 2015 in Sainte-Claire, QC). Antoine Bouchard was an authority on organs and organ music. He performed as an organist in the United States, France, and particularly in eastern and central Canada. He taught organ at Université Laval from 1961 to 1997 and served as director of the School of Music there from 1977 to 1980. He was a founding member of the Amis de l'orgue de Québec and became a board member of the Canadian Music Council in 1978.

Michel Brunet, historian (b at Montréal 24 Jul 1917; d there 4 Sept 1985).

Rosette (Rose Madelaine) Renshaw. Teacher, ethnomusicologist, translator, born Montreal 4 May 1920, died New Paltz, NY, 13 Mar 1997; BA (McGill) 1942, B MUS (Toronto) 1944, D MUS (Toronto) 1949. She attended the École Vincent-d'Indy 1936-8 and studied with Alfred Whitehead and Claude Champagne.

Robert Edward Bell, nuclear physicist, university educator (b at New Malden, Eng 29 Nov 1918; d at Vancouver, BC 1 Apr 1992). After graduating from the University of British Columbia (BA 1939, MA 1941), he worked on RADAR development at the NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL during WWII.

Adolphus Egerton Ryerson, Methodist minister, educator (born 24 March 1803 in Charlotteville Township, Norfolk County, Upper Canada; died 18 February 1882 in Toronto, Ontario). Egerton Ryerson was a leading figure in education and politics in 19th century Ontario. He helped found and edit the Christian Guardian (1829) and served as president of the Methodist Church of Canada (1874–78). As superintendent of education in Canada West, Ryerson established a system of free, mandatory schooling at the primary and secondary level — the forerunner of Ontario’s current school system. He also founded the Provincial Normal School (1847), which eventually became the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE). Ryerson also served as principal of Victoria College, which he helped found in 1836 as the Upper Canada Academy. He was also, however, involved in the development of residential schools in Canada. This has led to increasing calls to rename Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University) and other institutions named in his honour.

Alvin (Harry) Reimer. Bass, teacher, b Winkler, Man, 5 Jun 1940; Bachelor of Religious Education and Diploma, Sacred Music (Mennonite Brethren Bible College) 1965, BA (Waterloo Lutheran) 1968, Künstlerische Reifeprüfung (Academy of Music, Detmold) 1978.

John Bartlet Brebner, historian (b at Toronto 19 May 1895; d at New York C, NY 9 Nov 1957). Educated at University of Toronto, Oxford and Columbia University, he taught 1921-25 at U of T and then moved to Columbia U for the rest of his academic life.

Leslie Armour, philosopher (b at New Westminster, BC 6 Mar 1931). Armour, with a BA from the University of British Columbia (1952) and a PhD from the University of London (1956), taught PHILOSOPHY first in the US, then at Waterloo and at the University of Ottawa (since 1977).

Max (Gabriel) Pirani. Pianist, teacher, b Melbourne 4 Aug 1898, d London 5 Aug 1975. His studies at the Melbourne Cons and later with Max Vogrich in New York preceded the formation (1923) of the Pirani Trio with the violinist Leila Doubleday (later Pirani) and the cellist Charles Hambourg.

Françoise Aubut-Pratte (née Aubut), organist, educator (born 5 September 1922 in St-Jérôme, QC; died 8 October 1984 in Montréal, QC).

Caroline Racicot. Pianist, teacher, administrator, b Montreal 3 Feb 1862, 1864 or 1872, d there 17 Dec 1950.

Roger Charbonneau. Bassist, teacher, b Montreal 18 May 1908, d there 20 Oct 1964. He studied solfège with J.-J. Goulet and cello with his father, Louis Charbonneau, before taking up the double-bass with, in turn, Léon Wathieu, Warren Bentfield, and, at the CMM, Anselme Fortier of New York 1943-8.

Olga Melikoff, Murielle Parkes and Valerie Neale were leaders of the parent group behind the creation, in 1965, of Canada's first bilingual education program, at Margaret Pendlebury Elementary School in the Montreal suburb of Saint-Lambert, Quebec. Their education activism laid the groundwork for the French immersion system in Canada. As a result of their efforts, Melikoff, Parkes and Neale are often referred to as Canada’s “founding mothers" of French immersion.

(Joseph Jean Denis) Robert Léonard. Teacher, 'animateur,' percussionist, b Montreal 16 Sep 1938; B MUS (Montreal) 1966, L MUS (Montreal) 1969.

Yvonne Hubert. Pianist, teacher, b Mouscron, Belgium, 28 May 1895, d Montreal 8 Jun 1988; premier prix piano (Lille Cons) 1906, premier prix piano (Paris Cons) 1911, honorary LLD (Concordia) 1981. She first took lessons at the Lille Cons.

Robert England, teacher, railway administrator, civil servant (born 15 September 1894 in Portadown, Northern Ireland; died 14 June 1985 in Victoria, BC). England had a varied education and an even more varied career. However, his contributions to Canadian society were primarily in the fields of rural education, immigration and cultural pluralism, veterans’ rehabilitation and citizenship.