Armando Santiago

Last updated

Armando Santiago (born 18 June 1932) is a Canadian composer, conductor, music educator, and university administrator of Portuguese birth. A member of the Canadian League of Composers, his compositional output includes a considerable amount of orchestral works and chamber works. From 1974 to 1978 he was the director of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières and from 1978 to 1985 he was the director of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Québec. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Born in Lisbon, Santiago became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1972. He studied singing and piano privately in his native city before entering the Lisbon Conservatory where he earned a premier prix in music history (1954) and music composition (1960). He then studied the techniques of musique concrète with Pierre Schaeffer through the research service of the Office de Radiodiffusion Télévision Française in Paris in 1960. From 1962 to 1964 he studied in Rome with Boris Porena privately and with Goffredo Petrassi at the Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia through grants awarded to him by the governments of Portugal and Italy. He obtained an advanced studies diploma in music composition from the Accademia in 1964. He also pursued studies in conducting with Hans Münch in Lisbon and Franco Ferrara in Siena. [1]

Career

Santiago taught classes in music theory, composition, and conducting in Lisbon during the 1960s. He emigrated to Canada in 1968 to join the music faculty at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières. He became the director of that school in 1974, and founded its orchestra. [2] In 1978 he was appointed director of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Québec. [3] Among his notable pupils are Pierre-Michel Bédard and Gilles Bellemare. [1]

In 19771978 Santiago conducted performances of his compositions played by the CBC Quebec Chamber Orchestra. He has also worked as a guest conductor with orchestras in Portugal, Germany, and Canada during the 1970s and 1980s. [1]

A theatre at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières is named for him. [2]

Compositions

Some of Santiago's more well known compositions are Suite for bassoon and piano (1960), Soneto de Camões for baritone and string orchestra (1966), Sinfonia (1966, written for the Jeunesses musicales du Canada), Sonata (1968, commissioned by the University of Lisbon), Simetrias (1970), Prismes (1970), Heterogenia-Movimento per 32 solisti (1971, commissioned by the Gulbenkian Foundation of Lisbon), Requies for male choir and 25 instruments (1979–83), Undecassônia (1975) and Trame (19859) for orchestra, and Musique pour quatre (1988). In 1962 he composed the film score for Ernesto de Sousa's Dom Roberto .

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wilfrid Pelletier</span> Canadian musician and arts administrator (1896–1982)

Joseph Louis Wilfrid Pelletier, was a Canadian conductor, pianist, composer, and arts administrator. He was instrumental in establishing the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, serving as the orchestra's first artistic director and conductor from 1935 to 1941. He had a long and fruitful partnership with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City that began with his appointment as a rehearsal accompanist in 1917; ultimately working there as one of the company's conductors in mainly the French opera repertoire from 1929 to 1950. From 1951 to 1966 he was the principal conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec. He was also a featured conductor for a number of RCA Victor recordings, including an acclaimed reading of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem featuring baritone Mack Harrell and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and chorus.

Jacques Hétu was a Canadian composer and music educator. He is the most frequently performed of Canadian classical composers, both within Canada and internationally.

Raffi Armenian, is a Canadian conductor, pianist, composer, and teacher. He directed the Kitchener–Waterloo Symphony orchestra for many years. Since 1999 he has been the director of Orchestral Studies at the University of Toronto. From 2008 to 2013 he was the director of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal.

The Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec (CMADQ) is a public network of nine state-subsidised schools offering higher education in music and theatre in Quebec, Canada. The organization was established in 1942 as a branch of the Ministère des Affaires culturelles du Québec by the government of Quebec during the premiership of Maurice Duplessis. Orchestra conductor Wilfrid Pelletier and composer Claude Champagne are credited for their zeal in promoting this project, and the two men led the organization as director and assistant director for its first several years. The organization's current director general is Nathalie Letendre.

Jacques Lacombe, is a Canadian conductor.

The Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Québec (CMQQ) is a music conservatory located in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Founded by the Quebec government in 1944, it became the second North American music institution of higher learning to be entirely state-subsidized. The conservatoire is part of a network of 7 conservatories in Quebec, the Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec (CMADQ), and was the second school in the CMADQ network to be established. Orchestra conductor Wilfrid Pelletier served as the school's first director from 1944 through 1946. The current director is Jean-Fabien Schneider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières</span>

The Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Trois-Rivières (CMQT) is a music conservatory located in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. Most of the school's students come from the Saint-Maurice region of Quebec; many of them from the conservatoire preparatory programs at the school of St-Gabriel du Cap-de-la-Madeleine and the comprehensive school Ste-Ursule de Trois-Rivières. The CMQT was originally located on Laviolette St, but in 1970 the school moved to better facilities in the building of the Centre culturel and the former École Ste-Marie. The conservatoire moved to its present location on Radisson Street in October 1978.

Gilles Bellemare is a Canadian composer, conductor, and music educator. He has been commissioned to write music for more than 30 professional ensembles internationally, many of which have been recorded or performed on CBC Radio under his baton. He has also written a number of film scores and is an associate of the Canadian Music Centre. In 1977 he was awarded the William St Clair Low Award by the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of Canada. In 1978 he assumed the post of principal conductor and artistic director of the Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières, a post he held until 2004. Under his leadership, the orchestra produced several commercial recordings and premiered works by such contemporary Canadian composers as Timothy Brady, Jacques Faubert, Anne Lauber, and Myke Roy.

Joseph Eugène Raymond-Marie Daveluy was a Canadian composer, organist, music educator, and arts administrator. An associate composer of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output consisted mainly of works for solo organ. He had an active international career as a recitalist and concert performer from 1946 through the 1990s. He held a number of church posts in Montreal, including serving as organist of St-Jean-Baptiste Church (1946–1951), Immaculée-Conception Church (1951–1954), and St-Sixte Church (1954–1959). In 1980, he was named a Member of the Order of Canada. He was married to pianist Hilda Metcalfe.

Isabelle Delorme was a Canadian composer, pianist, and music educator. As a composer, her works are lyrical in nature and follow more traditional ideas of harmony as opposed to the avant-garde music that was in vogue in her day. She was an active recitalist but is best remembered for her impact as a teacher of music theory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacques Faubert</span>

Jacques Faubert is a Canadian composer, conductor, and music educator, known for founding the Mont-Royal Symphony Orchestra.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jean Deslauriers</span> Canadian conductor, violinist, and composer

Jean Deslauriers was a Canadian conductor, violinist, and composer. As a conductor he had a long and fruitful partnership with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; conducting orchestras for feature films and television and radio programs for more than 40 years. He also worked as a guest conductor with orchestras and opera companies throughout Canada and served on the conducting staff of the Opéra du Québec. The Canadian Encyclopedia describes him as "a conductor with a sober but efficient technique, who was always faithful to the written score [and] equally at ease conducting concerts, opera, and lighter repertoire." His best-known compositions are his Prélude for strings and the song, La Musique des yeux. He is the father of soprano Yolande Deslauriers-Husaruk.

René Gagnier was a Canadian conductor, composer, euphonium player, violinist, and music educator. His compositional output includes several marches, waltzes, works for solo violin, and some chamber and symphonic music, all of which remains unpublished.

Jacques Larocque is a Canadian saxophonist, arranger, music educator, and university administrator. He has authored and published numerous transcriptions and arrangements for saxophone quartet; some of which have been recorded by ensembles like the Alliage Saxophone Quartet and the American Saxophone Quartet. He has appeared numerous times on CBC Radio as a soloist and chamber musician and has been a soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Quebec Symphony Orchestra, and Orchestre symphonique de Trois-Rivières among others.

Alain Gagnon was a Canadian composer and music educator based in Laval, Quebec. His compositions have been performed by ensembles throughout Canada.

Georges Savaria was a Canadian pianist, composer, ondist, college administrator, and music educator. His compositional output consists of a 1951 piano concerto, several songs and works for solo piano, and music for theatre, television, and radio. Some of his music was published by the periodical Le Passe-Temps.

François Morel was a Canadian composer, pianist, conductor, and music educator. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 1994 and was awarded the Prix Denise-Pelletier in 1996. He has had his works premiered by the CBC Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Françoys Joseph Arthur Maurice Bernier was a Canadian pianist, conductor, radio producer, arts administrator, and music educator. He served as the music director of the Montreal Festivals from 1956 to 1960 and was an active conductor and a producer for CBC Radio during the 1950s and early 1960s. He was the General Director of the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec from 1960 to 1966 and then the orchestra's Music Director from 1966 to 1968. He was also active as a teacher of conducting at a number of universities, notably serving as the first director of the Music Department at the University of Ottawa.

Marc Bélanger is a Canadian violinist, violist, conductor, arranger, composer, and music educator.

Josephte Dufresne (1929–1995) was a Canadian pianist, teacher and conservatoire director.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Suzanne Thomas. "Armando Santiago". The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved 25 April 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Armando Santiago: de la musique au roman.". Linda Corbo. Le Nouvelliste, 22 January 2011
  3. Words & Music . Vol. 11, Issues 3-4. Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada; 2004. p. 8.