Hélène Dugal

Dugal, Hélène

Hélène Dugal. Organist, teacher, b Verdun (Montreal), 2 Nov 1949; premier prix organ (CMM) 1972. She studied at the CMM with Bernard Lagacé (organ) and Kenneth Gilbert (harpsichord). On a scholarship from the Quebec government, she attended (1972-3) the Geneva Cons. In addition to winning first prize at the John Robb Organ Competition (1969), she distinguished herself at international competitions in Bruges, Geneva, Saint Albans, Bologna and Innsbruck. She was a founding member of the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal and of Concerts d'orgue de Montréal. She was successively Principal Organist at the Saint-Pascal-Baylon (1968), Saint-Irénée (1969-71), Saint-Zotique (1971-2, 1973-5), Saint-Boniface (Geneva, 1972-3), and Marie-Reine-du-Monde churches (beginning in 1975). Outside Quebec, she has performed in New-Brunswick, Ontario, the USA and Europe. Music adviser to the National Liturgical Office of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, she founded (1989) LAUDEM (an association of organists of the Montreal diocese). Due to her unerring taste and intellectual rigour, she is much in demand as an adjudicator for organ exams and competitions. She has also contributed articles on music and liturgy to various religious publications. She began to teach at the University of Montreal in 1982.