Pauline Vaillancourt

Pauline Vaillancourt. Soprano, b Arvida (Joniquière), Que, 2 Feb 1945; M MUS (Montreal) 1976. She studied first with Guy Lepage at the CMQ, then with Louise André at the University of Montreal. She made her debut as a soloist and recitalist in 1970. Although she specializes in avant-garde music, she also has pursued a career in the classical repertoire. She has sung the Mozart Requiem and the Bach Magnificat with the orchestra of the Institut des arts au Saguenay, Handel's Messiah with the CMQ orchestra (1970), Brahms' German Requiem with the MSO (May 1977) and the Kingston and Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestras (1978), and Mozart's Exsultate Jubilate and Vesperae solennes and Handel's Messiah with the Orchestre des pays de la Loire (France 1985). Vaillancourt is frequently engaged by the SMCQ, the CBC, the Atelier-laboratoire of the University of Montreal, and Événements du neuf, and she is also a member of Gropus 7. She has premiered several works, including Orange by Pierre Trochu (Toronto, 1973), Lettura di Dante and Liebesgedichte by Claude Vivier (SMCQ, 1974-5), ... chant d'amours by Serge Garant (CBC, 1975), Arabesco by José Evangelista (Spain, 1975), Three Songs of the Holocaust by Marvin Duchow (Montreal, 1978), Les Vêpres de la Vierge by Gilles Tremblay (Sylvanès, France 1986) and La Porte by Evangelista (Événements du neuf, 1987). She also has participated in numerous 'collective creations' of Gropus 7. In April 1975, accompanied by the pianist Jean-Eudes Vaillancourt (her brother), she made a recital tour in Spain organized by the Caja De Ahorros. Her striking abilities as a soloist and improviser are demonstrated on a recording made with Dionne and Brégent in March 1976. From 1976 to 1980 she was a member of TRIO 3 with the guitarist Michael Laucke and the flutist Sayyd Abdul Al-Khabyyr. She took part in the SMCQ European tour in 1977. In 1983 she began to divide her time between Paris and Montreal. In Europe she has participated in numerous festivals, notably in Avignon, Montpellier, Paris, Strasbourg, London, and Valencia. In 1989 in Montreal she founded and became artistic director of Chants libres, a company of lyric improvisation. Vaillancourt received the Québec-Flanders Contemporary Music Award in 1998, and in 2009 was named an ambassador of the Canadian Music Centre for her contribution to new music in Canada.

Discography
Aperghis Récitations - Scelsi Chants du Capricorne. (1990). SNE 571 (CD)

Bottenberg - Bach - Fauré - Brégent - et al. Trio 3. 1979. RCI 497

Boucher Anges maudits, veuillez m'aider! Poirier speaker, CBC instr and vocal ensemble, G. Tremblay conductor. 1979. RCI 522

Evangelista En guise de fête; Arabesco. Escrig violoncello, 15 instr, Franco-Gil conductor. 1975. CBS LSP-13224

Fauré - Vivier - Messiaen - Ravel. J.-E. Vaillancourt piano. 1986. RCI 631/(Vivier) 4-ACM 36 (CD)

Garant Cage d'oiseau. L.-P. Pelletier piano. 1978. 4-ACM 2

Gonneville - Evangelista - Desjardins - Halffter. Gropus 7. 1979. RCI 493

Mather Musique pour Champigny. MacKinnon soprano, Fleury-Coutu contralto, Montreal ensemble. 1984. McGill University Records 83019

Tchaikovsky - Mussorgsky - R. Strauss - Villa-Lobos. 8 violoncello, J.-E. Vaillancourt piano and conductor. 1974. RCI 417

Thibault Le Soleil et l'acier. 1990. empreintes DIGITALes IMED-9003 (CD)

Vivier Prologue pour un Marco Polo. Laferrière mezzo, Doane tenor, Ducharme bar, Saint-Amant bass, Lavallée speaker, CBC instr ensemble, L. Vaillancourt conductor. (1987). RCI 626/4-ACM 36 (CD)

See also Les Vêpres de la Vierge and Discographies for V. Dionne; SMCQ (RCI 411, 422, 499)

Author Suzanne Thomas

Bibliography

Davoine, Françoise. 'Pauline Vaillancourt, une chanteuse musicienne,' Aria, vol 13, Autumn 1990

Vaillancourt, Pauline and Nattiez, Jean-Jacques. 'Chanter, jouer: l'aventure de Chants Libres,' Circuit, vol 3:2, 1992

Links to Other Sites
Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Awards
Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Awards Cumulative list of Winners. From the Canada Council for the Arts.