Serge Garant

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Serge Garant, composer, conductor, pianist, teacher, critic (b at Québec City 22 Sept 1929; d at Sherbrooke, Qué 1 Nov 1986). A daring and innovative musician, Garant was known for his promotion of 20th-century music, especially that of Canada. He studied in Montréal with Yvonne Hubert (piano) and Claude CHAMPAGNE (composition), and in Paris with Olivier Messiaen and Andrée Vaurabourg-Honegger. Returning to Montréal, he worked in counterpoint with Jocelyne Binet, and later took summer courses with Pierre Boulez in Switzerland.

By combining recording tapes and instruments in Nucléogame (1955) and by using the aleatory technique in his Trois Pièces for string quartet (1958), Garant introduced 2 innovative procedures into Canadian music. However, it was Anerca, premiered in 1961 by Mauricio Kagel, that gained him recognition as a leading Canadian musician.

Garant worked for CBC Radio as an arranger, accompanist, conductor and critic. He was also musical director of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, copresident of the national committee of the Société internationale pour la musique contemporaine and a professor at U de M. He was awarded the Canadian Music Council Medal (1971), the Harold Moon trophy from the Performing Rights Organization of Canada Ltd (1978), the 1979 Prix de musique Calixa-Lavallée, and the Canada Council prize for music (1984). He was made a Member of the Royal Society of Canada in 1986.

Author HÉLÈNE PLOUFFE


Links to Other Sites
Société de musique contemporaine du Québec
News and information about SMCQ’s leading edge programs throughout North America and Europe.

NACmusicbox.ca
The acclaimed National Arts Centre Orchestra has made available hundreds of online audio clips from its recordings that feature works by noteworthy Canadian and international composers. First click on the name of a composer on the right side menu. Then click on the "Play" arrow across from "Read Concert Program Notes" to hear a specific recording. Explore the website for more information about the orchestra and each recording. See also biographies of the composers and the interactive Timeline, which depicts historical milestones in classical music. From artsalive.ca and the Virtual Museum of Canada.

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