Guy Lachapelle

Guy Lachapelle. Percussionist, teacher, composer, b Granby, Que, 2 Mar 1931, d Florida 25 Mar 2008; premier prix (CMM) 1954. He studied at the CMM 1948-54 with Saul Goodman. In 1954 he joined the MSO and served 1958-78 as its principal percussionist. He gave numerous concerts in Montreal and appeared on several CBC radio and TV programs as a member of an orchestra and sometimes as soloist. He took part in numerous festivals with the SMCQ and served 1968-78 on its board of directors. In the early 1960s he was active in the jazz field; he belonged 1962-5 to the Montreal Jazz Society and, with Hans Kunst, ran a Montreal nightclub called Tête de l'Art. About 1966, however, he abandoned jazz entirely.

Lachapelle's composition Per-Q-Délic (1967) for one percussionist was written for the Montreal dance company the Groupe de la Place royale; an abridged version, entitled Phases, was recorded (RCI 409) in 1974. For another Montreal dance troupe, the Groupe Nouvelle-Aire, he composed 1972-3 a collective work with Micheline Saint-Marcoux, Pierre Béluse, and Robert Leroux: Épisodies I, II, III for three percussionists. Épisodie II was televised by the CBC and presented in 1973 at the MIDEM; this very successful program was sold to several countries. In 1975 Lachapelle began teaching at the CMM, and he also taught at the Université de Montréal. His students have been among percussionists in the country's major orchestras, and include Jacques Lavallée (OSM); François Aubin (OSQ) ; Marc-André Lalonde (OSQ); and Pierre Trochu.