Jean-Baptiste Dubois (musician)

Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Dubois (born January 19, 1870 in Ghent , † July 4, 1938 in Montreal ) was a Canadian cellist, conductor and music teacher.

Dubois studied cello at the Ghent Conservatory with Jean-Baptiste Rappé and Jules de Swert and taught here himself from 1885 to 1891. At the invitation of Ernest Lavigne , he came to Montreal, where he was principal cellist and conductor of the Sohmer Park orchestra until 1894 . In addition, from 1893 to 1896 he was principal cellist with the Orchestra of the Opéra Français .

From 1896 to 1910 he was first cellist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Guillaume Couture and Joseph-Jean Goulet , with whom he also appeared as a soloist. He was also active as a chamber musician: as a member of the Haydn Trio 1896–1898 with Émery Lavigne and Joseph-Jean Gagnier and the Mendelssohn Trio 1905–1906; as the founder of the Beethoven Trio with Albert Chamberland and Maria Heynberg in 1907 and of the Dubois String Quartet in 1910, which he directed until his death.

He also conducted various orchestras and taught at the Collège de Montréal (1896), the McGill Conservatory (1904), the Conservatoire National (after 1906) and the Canadian Academy of Music (1914). He founded the public solfège courses in 1893 , which he led until 1903. His students included Rosario Bourdon , Hermann Courchesne , Suzette Forgues , Napoléon Dansereau , Roland Leduc , Brahm Sand and his own son Jules. Of his compositions, the élegie for cello and piano gained some popularity.

Dubois was the father-in-law of Louis-Honoré and Rosario Bourdon . His son Jules Dubois (* 1902 in Montreal; † 1977 there) worked as a cellist in various orchestras and taught cello and solfège. He wrote the Théorie élémentaire de musique (Montreal 1961).