Search for "New France"

Bernadette Renaud, author, playwright (born 18 April 1945 in Ascot Corner, Québec).

Toronto Children's Chorus (TCC). Founded in 1978 by conductor Jean Ashworth Gam (later Bartle) because of a need for a treble-voice choir to perform certain repertoire with the Toronto Symphony.

​Mary E. Dignam (née Williams), painter and founder of the Women's Art Association of Canada (born 13 January 1857 in Port Burwell, ON; died 6 September 1938 in Toronto, ON).

Frère Marie-Victorin (born Conrad Kirouac), member of the Brothers of the Christian Schools, botanist, teacher (born 3 April 1885 in Kingsey Falls, QC; died 15 July 1944 in St-Hyacinthe, QC). A self-taught botanist, Frère Marie-Victorin was the first chair of botany at Université de Montréal, founder of the Institut de Botanique and the Montréal Botanical Garden, and author of Flore laurentienne (1935). He also co-founded the Association canadienne-française pour l'avancement des sciences, the Société canadienne d'histoire naturelle, and the Cercles des jeunes naturalistes, and actively promoted science in popular as well as academic publications. A French Canadian nationalist, Marie-Victorin believed that knowledge of Québec’s natural world would inspire pride in French Canadians and enable them to take possession of their land.

Frederick William Hall, VC, soldier, musician, clerk (born 21 February 1885 in Kilkenny, Ireland; died 24 April 1915 near Ypres, Belgium). During the First World War, Sergeant-Major Fred Hall was the first of three soldiers, all from the same street in Winnipeg, to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest award for bravery among troops of the British Empire. The three VCs earned by the men of Pine Street — later named Valour Road — was a feat unmatched in any other part of the Empire.

Jovette Marchessault, novelist, playwright, painter, sculptor (born 9 February 1938 in Montreal, QC; died 31 December 2012 in Danville, QC). Jovette Marchessault was a self-taught multidisciplinary artist. She won major prizes for her literary and theatrical works and made a unique mark on francophone culture. Supported by a deep and lyrical voice, her work celebrates words through myths and liberating poetic language. Her body of work stands as a tribute to women of all backgrounds, notably female artists and writers. She co-founded the international publishing house Squawtach Press, contributed to many publications and was a lecturer in the theatre department at the Université du Québec à Montréal. She won the Prix France-Quebec and the Governor General’s Drama Award, among other honours.

Jacques Brault, writer (b at Montréal, Qué 29 Mar 1933). Brault is a major poet of contemporary Québec. He studied at the Collège Sainte-Marie (Montréal), Université de Montréal and the Sorbonne (Paris), before becoming a professor at Université de Montréal in 1960.

Jean-Aubert Loranger, poet, storyteller, journalist (b at Montreal 26 Oct 1896; d there 28 Oct 1942). Loranger belonged to a family known for its lawyers (the Lorangers), writers (AUBERT DE GASPÉ) and military officers (Charles de SALABERRY).

Leonard Ratzlaff. Bass-baritone, conductor, teacher, administrator, b Swalwell, Alta, 27 Jan 1949; B Church MUS (Mennonite Brethren Bible College) 1970, BA (University of Winnipeg) 1971, MA (University of Iowa) 1980, DMA (Iowa) 1985.

Guild of Carillonneurs in North America (GCNA). Formed 3 Sep 1936 in Ottawa with a charter membership of 24 (8 Canadian) to foster the art of the carillon. Percival Price, at that time Dominion Carillonneur in Ottawa, was a co-founder; Edward Gammons (USA) was president until 1938.

Christopher Gledhill. Educator, organist, composer, b Borden, Kent, England, 21 Mar 1912, d Brundall, Norfolk, England, 14 Apr 1987; BA (Oxford) 1934, B MUS (Oxford) 1936, MA (Oxford) 1946. He was a grandnephew of Edwin Gledhill.

Camille Bernard. Soprano, teacher, actress, b Joliette, Que, 25 Feb 1898, d Montreal, 16 Jul 1984. After a year (1907) in Paris she began studying singing in Montreal with Béatrice La Palme and Salvator Issaurel.

Irena (Cateryna) Welhasch-Baerg. Soprano, b Winnipeg 15 Apr 1956.

François Papineau-Couture. Instrument builder, flutist, b Montreal 1 Apr 1953; BA teaching (Montreal) 1972, B MUS (Montreal) 1977. After studying the flute, he undertook a one-year stay in London studying the building of plucked keyboard instruments with John Rawson.

Charles-Marie Panneton. Pianist, teacher, composer, b Montreal 15 or 17 Jun 1845 (or, according to Musiciens canadiens, 17 Jun 1848), d there 3 Jan 1890. He studied first at Joliette College and later in Montreal with Paul Letondal.

Pierre Billon, novelist (b at Geneva, Switzerland Jun 15 1937). Following studies in education at the Université de Montréal (1965), Pierre Billon taught at the Faculty of Arts there, and at the University of Ottawa. Then he was head of educational publications at Éditions Fides.

Brigitte Rolland. Violinist, b Montreal 8 Oct 1964; ARCM 1987. After studies in Montreal with Maurice Onderet (1969-70), Mildred Goodman (1971-80), and Mauricio Fuks (McGill University, 1981-2), she attended the RCM in London where she studied 1983-7 with Rodney Friend.

Pierre(-Minier) Lagacé. Priest, educator, b Sainte-Anne-de-la-Pocatière, Lower Canada (Quebec), 17 Oct 1830, d Quebec City 6 Dec 1884.

Beau Dommage was a Quebec folk-rock group that was formed around 1972 and became known for its distinctive urban poetry and songs about adolescence and daily life in Montreal. The group’s second album, Où est passée la noce?, came out in 1975 and was one of the first in the history of music in Canada to go platinum according to the Canadian Recording Industry Association (100,000 copies sold). Beau Dommage was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2017.

Bernard Lagacé. Organist, harpsichordist, teacher, b St-Hyacinthe, Que, 21 Nov 1930. He began his musical studies with Conrad Letendre at the Séminaire de St-Hyacinthe where he was organist at the age of 14.