Search for "New France"

Roberta Rich, novelist (born at Buffalo, New York, USA, 9 Jan 1946). Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Rich settled briefly in Rochester, New York before immigrating to Canada in the 1960s with her first husband, who had a job teaching at the UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY.

His numerous commissions include Treppenmusic (1982), Over Time (1987) and Las Meninas (1990-91). He was composer-in-residence in Mannheim (1984) and for the Italian summer festival Incontri in Terra di Siena (1991).

Mary Cyr. Gambist, teacher, musicologist, b Fargo, N Dak, 20 Aug 1946, naturalized Canadian 1991; BA music (California, Berkeley) 1968, MA musicology (California, Berkeley) 1970, PH D (California, Berkeley) 1975.

Lisa LeBlanc, singer, songwriter, musician (born 13 August 1990 in Rosaireville, NB). Lisa LeBlanc has known success ever since her first album came out in 2012. Her music, which she describes as folk-trash with bluegrass and Cajun accents, reaches a wide audience. Her songs are often humorous accounts of the perils of love. She has been compared to Bob Dylan, Dolly Parton and even Quebec singer-songwriter Plume Latraverse. Beneath her often funny lyrics, there are pearls of poetry. Her choice of words and her relentless sincerity transform the ordinary and anecdotal into a thing of beauty. Listening to Lisa LeBlanc, one can easily be laughing one minute and all choked up the next. She belongs to a generation of young Acadian artists — such as the Hay Babies, Radio, Joseph Edgar and Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire — who are firmly grounded in modern life. She says that she has been influenced by Sam Roberts, Feist, Aerosmith and, most strongly, by Stevie Nicks. Since LeBlanc’s career began, her albums have sold slightly over 140,000 copies in North America and Europe. She composes and sings in both French and English. Winner of the 2010 Festival international de la chanson de Granby, she has won many other awards in New Brunswick and Quebec and across Canada. LeBlanc first made her name with a song whose title echoes its refrain, with which many of her fans seemed to identify: “Aujourd’hui, ma vie c’est d’la m—de”  (“Today, my life is s—t”).

Casey Sokol. Composer, pianist, b New York 6 May 1948; BA music (State U of New York) 1970, MA (California Institute of the Arts) 1971.

Jan Hambourg. Violinist, b Voronezh, Russia, 27 Aug (Julian Calendar, 8 Sep) 1882, d Tours, France, 29 Sep 1947. He studied with Émile Sauret and August Wilhelmj in London, Hugo Heermann in Frankfurt, Otakar Ševčík in Prague, and Eugène Ysaÿe in Belgium.

Louis Bailly. Violist, teacher, b Valenciennes, France, 13 Jun 1882, naturalized Canadian 1950, d Cowansville, near Sherbrooke, Que, 21 Nov 1974; premier prix (Paris Cons) 1899, honorary D MUS (Curtis) 1930. He studied violin and viola at the Paris Cons.

William Kirby, novelist, journalist (b at Kingston-upon-Hull, Eng 23 Oct 1817; d at Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ont 23 June 1906).

​Claude Sauvage, author and professor (born in 1938 in Mascara, Algeria) immigrated to Québec in 1967.

Clément Perron, screenwriter, director (b at Québec City 3 July 1929 - d at Pointe-Claire 12 Oct 1999). After graduating from Université Laval, Perron went to France to continue his studies with the goal of becoming a teacher.

Emmanuel (Marie) Blain De St-aubin. Translator, song-writer, tenor, teacher of music and languages, b Rennes, France, 29 or 30 Jun 1833, d Ottawa 9 Jul 1883; B LITT (Rennes) 1851. He completed his education in Paris.

Jean (Arthur) Riddez. Baritone, teacher, b Lille, France, 10 Mar 1875, naturalized Canadian ca 1928, d Montreal 2 Sep 1939: premiers prix voice, declamation, opéra-comique (Lille Cons) 1897, premiers prix voice, opéra-comique, opera (Paris Cons) 1900.

Lara Fabian (b Crokaert). Singer, songwriter, b Etterbeek, Belgium, 9 Jan 1970, naturalized Canadian 1995. The daughter of a Belgian father (who sang back-up vocals for Petula Clark) and a Sicilian mother, Lara Fabian enrolled at the Brussels Royal Conservatory of Music at age eight.

Jacques Labrecque. Baritone, folksinger, storyteller, producer, publisher, ethnologist, ( St. Benoît, near Montreal, 8 Jun 1917 - Longueuil, QC, 18 March 1995). He developed a taste for singing while living on his parents' farm.

An artist of colour closely associated with the Vancouver School, Stan Douglas examines the complexities of social reality and history and the means by which they are represented. While his initial reputation was as a video and installation artist, more recently he has been acclaimed for his large format back-lit photographs of elaborately re-staged historical scenes.

Aileen Mindel (Minda) Bronfman de Gunzburg, philanthropist (born 4 March 1925 in Montreal, QC; died 1 July 1985 in Paris, France).

Hélène Monette was very involved in the cultural scene through poetry, and often appeared on stage sometimes accompanied by musicians, for poetry readings. She travelled in France, Mexico and Portugal performing in various festivals and meeting students and authors.

Janine Sutto, actor (born 20 April 1921 in Paris, France; dead 28 March 2017 in Montréal, Québec). An autodidact, she came to the stage very early, and brilliantly personified countless roles in all genres of theatre, radio and television.

Gabriel Charpentier, composer, poet, artistic adviser (b at Richmond, Qué 13 Sept 1925). He studied piano with Jean PAPINEAU-COUTURE, the Benedictine monks in Saint-Benoît-du-Lac, and in France with Norbert Dufourcq, Annette Dieudonné and Nadia Boulanger.

Bruce Ubukata. Pianist, organist, harpsichordist, vocal coach, b Goderich, Ont, 3 Sep 1949; BA (Carleton) 1970. Bruce Ubukata studied privately with Greta Kraus in Toronto, Sir Peter Pears at Aldeburgh, and Pierre Bernac at St Jean de Luz, France.