Roger Filiatrault

Filiatrault, Roger

Roger Filiatrault. Baritone, teacher, choir conductor, b Montreal 5 Feb 1905, d Lesage, near Montreal, 27 Apr 1973; premier prix voice (Brussels Royal Cons) 1928. He studied piano and violin before taking voice lessons from Salvator Issaurel. At the Brussels Royal Cons, he worked 1926-8 under Désiré Demest (voice) and Désiré Defauw and Joseph Jongen (choral conducting). He also studied the physiology of the voice with Dr Alexis Wicart in Paris. He returned to Canada in 1930 and with André Trottier founded the Alouette Vocal Quartet, with which he performed widely in Canada and abroad for some 30 years, becoming its artistic director in 1945.

Filiatrault taught privately and in many institutions including the CMM and the École Vincent-d'Indy. Among his pupils were Réjane Cardinal, Marie-José Forgues, Claire Gagnier, Jacques Labrecque, Micheline Tessier, and Cécile Vallée. He was the founder, and the director 1948-50, of the Société Euphonia, a 45-voice mixed choir.

Filiatrault was president 1949-51 of the QMTA. In 1956 the School of Music at the University of Ottawa awarded him a diploma 'bene merenti'.