Henri Vallières

Vallières, Henri

Henri (Eugène) Vallières. Organist, teacher, pianist, b Rivière-du-Loup, Que, 8 May 1901. He entered the Séminaire de Québec in 1913 and was trained there by Henri Gagnon, whom he also assisted at the Quebec Basilica. Vallières was the organist at the seminary ca 1920-5. On the death of his father, Eugène, he succeeded him as the organist of St-Patrice Church in Rivière-du-Loup. He went to Paris in 1928 and worked with Marcel Dupré (organ). He also attended the École normale de musique, where his teachers were Paul Loyonnet (piano) and Henri Potiron (harmony). On his return to Canada, in 1929, he was appointed the organist of Notre-Dame-du-Chemin Church in Quebec City, a post he held until 1972. He taught solfège and piano at Laval University 1931-70 and piano and organ at the CMQ 1947-72. His pupils included Lucille Baby, a harpist with the Quebec Symphony Orchestra, and Jeannine Bégin, a teacher at the CMM. He toured with Arthur LeBlanc and Raoul Jobin, and during the 1940s he was music director of 'L'Heure dominicale,' a religious program on CBC radio. His wife was the pianist Gabrielle Hudson (d 1989).