Michelle Quintal

Quintal, Michelle

Michelle Quintal. Organist, teacher, concert organizer, b Charlemagne, near Montreal, 19 Sep 1940; premier prix organ and deuxième prix history (CMM) 1966, premier prix orgue (Vienna Academy) 1970. She studied music 1959-66 at the CMM with Bernard Lagacé (organ), Françoise Aubut, Isabelle Delorme, and Gilberte Martin (theory), and Andrée Desautels (history). Assisted by grants from the Canada Council and the ministère de l'Éducation du Québec, she pursued organ studies first at the Cons de Genève 1966-7 with Lionel Rogg (organ, improvisation, counterpoint) then at the Vienna Academy of Music 1967-70 with Anton Heiller (organ) and Isolde Ahlgrimm (harpsichord). As a performer, Quintal has played for several concert societies throughout Quebec and on the CBC, where she introduced the works of Bernard Piché. Among the Canadian pieces she has premiered are Raynald Arseneault'sOde sur la mort d'un ami (1973), Pierre-Michel Bédard's Partitio IV (1975), Raymond Perrin'sIntroduction et Chaconne (1986), and works by Claude Beaudoin and Gilles Desrochers. She has contributed to many publications (Sonances, Journal de musique ancienne, Bulletin desAmis de l'orgue de Québec, EMC), and also was a concert organizer for organ societies in Joliette, Trois-Rivières, and Repentigny. Quintal has participated in several juries for organ exams and competitions in Quebec. She was a teacher at the CMM 1971-4 and began teaching at the Cons de Trois-Rivières in 1974. She recorded the CD Organ Music in the St-Maurice Valley on which she performs works by Bernard Piché and Raymond Daveluy (1991, Quint S-110103DDD).