Orpha-F Deveaux

Deveaux, Orpha-F

Orpha-F. Deveaux. Organist, pianist, teacher, b Saginaw, Mich, 24 Jul 1872, d Hartford, Conn, December 1933. His teachers in Montreal were Alexis Contant and Percival J. Illsley. He also studied at the New York College of Music with Mat Schmidt, among others. He taught in Montreal ca 1901, and in 1905 was appointed organist at the St-Nom-de-Jésus Church. In 1914 he was appointed secretary of the Conservatoire national of Montreal, where he taught organ, piano, theory, and harmony. In Montreal in 1918 he announced the private publication of Principes de la musique 'based on mathematical calculations and illustrated with examples in color,' available in one volume or in sections by subscription; the work was distinctive for its use of colours to facilitate understanding. The sequel to this volume, also privately published, was Les Principes de l'harmonie (Montreal 1919), consisting of 25 lessons. Among Deveaux's pupils were Claude Champagne, Paul Pratt, and Hedwige Saint-Jacques. In 1923 Deveaux left Montreal to serve as organist with the Dominican fathers in Fall River, Mass.