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François Magnan, violinist, administrator (born 11 May 1929 in St-Casimir, QC; died 16 January 2020).
Career Highlights
After studies at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec (CMQ) (1946–53) and a premier prix at the Quebec Rotary Club, François Magnan was awarded a scholarship by the Royal Society of Canada and by the Ministry of Youth of Quebec. He then resided in Paris (1953–55), where he studied at the École normale de musique with Yvonne Astruc and Henri Benoît, and in London (1955–56), where he worked with Antonio Brosa at the Royal College of Music.
On his return to Canada, Magnan was a member of the CBC Little Symphonies orchestra (1956–69) and of the Quebec Symphony Orchestra (QSO) (1960–67). He was a Jeunesses musicales of Canada delegate at the International JM Congress in Hanover, Germany (1954), a Conservatoire de musique du Québec delegate at the International Congress of Composers in Stratford, Ontario (1960), artistic director of the Festival d'été (international) de Québec (1969–71), a jury member of the International Competition of young conductors in Besançon, France (1975), and member of various juries for Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec (MACQ) and of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Magnan is considered one of the main architects of the development of the QSO, with which he began his administrative career as personnel director (1960–66); he was subsequently general secretary (1966–72), director general (1972–83), and in 1983 became director of artistic operations (1983–93; 2002–03).
Personal Life
François Magnan married the pianist Madeleine Bernier. Their son Philippe Magnan became an oboist.
