Gilbert Patenaude died Sunday at the Cité de la Santé in Laval at the age of 75. His name is inseparable from that of the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal, of which he was the first lay musical director and which he directed for 38 years, from 1978 to 2016.
It was a major challenge that awaited Gilbert Patenaude when he became musical director of the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal during the summer of 1978. The children’s choir founded in 1956 by Father Léandre Brault was engaged for a concert of Christmas at Notre-Dame with Luciano Pavarotti. This major television project, recorded in September, was widely broadcast, particularly in North America, and subsequently ensured a fine reputation for the Montreal children’s choir.
Founding leader
Gilbert Patenaude’s debut with the Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal accompanied the 75e anniversary of Saint Joseph’s Oratory and, in June 1982, the event at the Olympic Stadium in honor of the beatification of Brother André by Pope John Paul II, during which his own Liturgical mass for choir, brass and organ will be sung. Under his direction, Les Petits Chanteurs du Mont-Royal sang during the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1984, took part in productions of the Opéra de Montréal, sang with the OSM, recorded discs and toured concerts in France, Belgium, Austria and the Czech Republic.
Les Petits Chanteurs are, however, only one facet of the work of Gilbert Patenaude, who was also the founding conductor of several ensembles, including the Orchester symphonique de Laval, created in 1984 under the name of Philharmonie de Laval and renamed the following year. . Mr. Patenaude led the orchestra from its beginnings until 1987. He also founded several vocal ensembles (les Chantres musicales, les Voix d’Elles, les Filles de l’Île and le Choeur Enharmonique) and directed the Choeur Vaudreuil. -Soulanges and the Lyric Art Theater of Laval.
Composer, too
Born in Montreal in the Rosemont district, Gilbert Patenaude was the eldest of nine children, of a dentist father. He grew up in Outremont, where he learned music as a soprano with the Clercs de Saint-Viateur, as a pianist and organist at the Vincent-d’Indy school. He refined his musical training in singing, conducting and musical analysis at the Conservatory in Montreal.
During his career, Gilbert Patenaude was also a teacher at the Cégep de Saint-Laurent and at the Vincent-d’Indy school, where he contributed to the training of thousands of musicians. As a composer, he leaves a legacy including operas, orchestral music, chamber music, vocal works, of course, as well as harmonizations, arrangements and orchestrations. The Orchester symphonique de Laval recently paid tribute to this facet of his talents by playing excerpts from his work Affirmation.
Besides his wife, Gilbert Patenaude is survived by his four children, all musicians; Laurent, co-director general of Les Violons du Roy; Marianne, accompanying pianist; Julien, founding singer of Quartom, and Rachel.