Conrad Letendre

Conrad Letendre (born January 9, 1904 in St-Zéphirin-de-Courval , Québec , † November 20, 1977 in Montreal , Québec) was a Canadian organist, composer and music teacher.

From 1913 to 1927, Letendre studied violin with Camille Couture , piano and organ with Arthur Letondal and harmony, fugue and counterpoint with Achille Fortier and Romain Pelletier at the Institut Nazareth . He lived in St-Hyacinthe and worked there from 1927 to 1933 as an organist at the Church of Notre-Dame-du-Rosaire . He also taught piano from 1927 to 1935 and from 1942 to 1952 at the city's seminary, as well as at the convent of the Soeurs de la Présentation and the Soeurs de Saint-Joseph .

From 1942 to 1954 Letendre was artistic advisor to the La Bonne Chanson publishing house , and from 1952 to 1954 editor-in-chief of the magazine Musique et musiciens . From 1955 to 1962 he taught at the University of Montreal . His numerous students included Gaston Arel , Jean Chatillon , Raymond Daveluy , Gilles Fortin , Kenneth Gilbert , Bernard and Mireille Lagacé , Lucienne L'Heureux-Arel , Michel Perrault , Gertrude Perreault-Mongeau and Jeannine Vanier .

Letendre's organ works appeared in a three-volume edition from 1980–82. On the first anniversary of his death, his wife, the organist Aline Letendre , gave a concert with his works at the CBC . On the tenth anniversary of his death in 1987, Aline Letendre and the violinist Tara-Louise Perrault played the world premiere of Michel Perrault's Sonata in A Minor , which he dedicated to Letendre's memory, in the Gesù Church . The city of St-Hyacinthe hosted an annual Conrad Letendre Festival from 1979 to 1983 . A Conrad Letendre Fellowship has been awarded since 1979 , the first recipients of which were John Vandertuin and Rachel Laurin . In 1970 Jean Chatillon and Michel Perrault founded the Institut de sciences musicales Conrad Letendre (since 1987 Pantonal ).

Web links

• The Canadian Encyclopedia - Conrad Letendre