Search for "New France"

Philippe Djokic. Violinist, conductor, teacher, b St Max, France, 3 Sep 1950, naturalized Canadian 1990; M MUS (Juilliard) 1975. Of Yugoslavian parentage, Philippe Djokic emigrated to the US in 1952.

Angelo Fassio. Violinist, conductor, publisher, composer, b St-Étienne, France, 14 Jan 1888, d Montreal 1 Aug 1956. He studied violin in Paris and in Berlin and theory in Barcelona.

Claude Baillif dit Regnault, masonry builder, architect (b c1635; d at sea, early 1699). The Séminaire de Québec hired Baillif as a stonecutter at La Rochelle, France, in May 1675.

As the threat of another world war loomed ever larger, Canadians, far from the conflict, would face a difficult choice of whether to stand again with Britain or remain isolated and safe in North America.

Phyllis (Margaret) Mailing. Mezzo-soprano, teacher, b Brantford, Ont, 4 Nov 1929, d West Vancouver, B.C., 26 Nov 2004; ARCT voice and piano 1950, honorary FRHCM 1978.

Georges (Joseph-Édouard) Dufresne. Tenor, radio producer, b Nicolet, Que, 21 May 1894, d Montreal 25 Jun 1973. After receiving his formal education at the Nicolet Seminary, he settled in Montreal, where he studied with Rodolphe Mathieu and Albert Clerk-Jeannotte.

The immigration of Laotian nationals to Canada is relatively recent, having begun in earnest in the late 1970s. After the withdrawal of American troops from Vietnam in March 1973, mainland Southeast Asia (former Indochina) was left at the mercy of revolutionary forces in the region. In 1975, at the end of a 20-year-long civil war, communist revolutionaries of the Pathet Lao (Lao State) movement took power, abolished the monarchy and proclaimed the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Living conditions deteriorated in Laos, as they did in Vietnam and Cambodia. Former civil and military officials were sent to labour camps and their families were denied access to employment and education. These difficult economic conditions, combined with an increasingly forceful communist regime and violations of human rights, sparked a mass migration in the region. Like Vietnamese, Laotians left their country in makeshift vessels, facing perilous conditions on the Mekong River and then the China Sea. This is the origin of the name often used to refer to these migrants: “boat people.” From 1979 to 1982, Canada welcomed nearly 8,000 Laotians. Approximately 20 per cent were of Chinese origin. Supported by the federal government and private sponsor groups, they resettled in various parts of Canada. Today, however, the Laotian population is concentrated in Québec and Ontario. In the 2016 Census of Canada, 24,590 people reported being of Laotian origin.

Tessa Virtue, figure skater (born 17 May 1989 in London, ON) and Scott Moir, figure skater (born 2 September 1987 in London, ON). Virtue and Moir are the most successful Canadian ice dance team of the early 21st century, and were the first North Americans to win the Olympic Gold Medal for ice dance, at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games. At the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, they won silver in ice dance and in the team competition. They won gold in ice dance and in the team competition at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, becoming the most decorated figure skaters in Olympic history. They have also won four world championships (three senior and one junior), three Four Continents championships, nine Canadian championships (eight senior and one junior) and multiple Grand Prix events, including a Grand Prix Final.

Lynda Gaudreau, choreographer, artistic director, teacher, advisor (born at Sept- ëles, Qué). Lynda Gaudrea's academic background is in art history and philosophy from the University of Ottawa, Université de Montréal and Université de Québec à Montréal, and she trained in jazz and classical DANCE.

(Joseph René) Jacques (André) Beaudry, conductor (born 10 October 1924 in Sorel, QC; died 3 June 2017 in Sorel). BA (Montreal) 1945.

José (Mario Louis) Delaquerrière. Tenor, teacher, choirmaster, composer, actor, b Paris 16 Sep 1886, naturalized Canadian 1958, d Montreal 10 Apr 1978.

Claude Webster. Pianist, vocal coach, b Roberval, Lac-St-Jean, Que, 5 Sep 1961; B MUS (Montreal) 1983, M MUS (Montreal) 1985.

Clarence Gagnon, engraver, painter (b at Montréal 8 Nov 1881; d there 5 Jan 1942). After studying at the École normale du Plateau in Montréal, he received his artistic training from the painter William BRYMNER at the Art Association of Montreal 1897-1900.

Alcibiade Béique. Organist, teacher, b St-Jean-Baptiste-de-Rouville, near Montreal, 20 Oct 1856, d Montreal 20 Jun 1896. After organ lessons with Romain-Octave Pelletier, he studied 1877-8 at the Liège Cons and travelled in Italy, France, and England.

Isabelle (b Boyer de la Giroday) Burnada. Mezzo-soprano, teacher, b Curepipe, Mauritius, 15 Feb 1899, d Vancouver 13 Mar 1972. Her parents emigrated to Canada when she was a child and settled in Mission, BC, in 1909. In 1919 she moved to Vancouver.

Fernand (Wilfrid Joseph) Létourneau. Organ manufacturer and rebuilder, b St-Hyacinthe, Que, 24 Sep 1944. Initially he worked as a carpenter but an interest in organs attracted him to Casavant Frères into whose employ he entered in 1965. He stayed with the company for 14 years.

Antoine Dessane, organist, pianist, cellist, teacher, composer (b at Forcalquier, near Aix-en-Provence, France 10 Dec 1826; d at Québec City 8 June 1873). Founder of the choral Société musicale

Louis-Joseph-Marie Quesnel, merchant, composer, poet, playwright (b at Saint-Malo, France 15 Nov 1746; d at Montréal 3 July 1809). Canada's first opera composer arrived here quite by chance.