Jean-Marie Bussières

Bussières, Jean-Marie

Jean-Marie Bussières. Organist, b Pont-Rouge, near Quebec City, 4 Jun 1910, d Quebec City 8 Nov 1978. He studied 1932-6 at Laval University with Henri Gagnon (piano and organ) and Robert Talbot (harmony and counterpoint). In Montreal he studied organ with George M. Brewer. He was organist 1931-78 at Quebec City's St-Sacrement Church, and he also taught 1959-62 at Laval University and the CMQ. He gave more than 40 recitals on the CBC and for the Casavant Society in Montreal and Quebec City, and gave the inaugural recitals on some 20 organs, including that of the cathedral in Moncton, NB and the Ursuline Convent in Rimouski, Que. He gave the first performance (1946) of Symphonie No. 1 for large organ by André Paducci (pseud of Sister Paul-du-Crucifix, b Françoise Lefebvre), and in 1970 composed a mass in French for four-voice choir. He became the cultural officer for the MACQ in 1967, and was the editor 1968-71 of Vie musicale, a periodical issued by the ministry. He was a member of the Research Institute (fine arts section) of De Paul U in Chicago from 1961 until his death.