Alain LeBlond

The center of all music activities at Chalmers-Wesley is Alain LeBlond, our Music Director.  Alain plays for our services, rehearses and conducts the choir, composes, and still finds time to organize a summer concert series and our annual Sing-Along Messiah.

Alain was born in Quebec City in 1957 and was probably destined to be a musician. His maternal grandmother was a cousin of Omer Létourneau (the organist in Saint-Sauveur), and played piano beautifully by ear.  At the age of three, Alain began to follow his father, maître de chapelle at Notre-Dame-de-Pitié, to services.  All during the service ‘I would stand next to the organist, Monsieur Vincent Bédard, the father of Denis’.

Alain started playing the organ at fifteen and entered the Conservatory three years later, where he formed a lifelong bond with his composition teacher, Pierick Houdy.  M. Houdy says this of him "….He has the qualities which make real musicians: imagination, original viewpoint, technique, and humor, without which the art (of composition) is only a system."

Here is what some of our Chalmers-Wesley choir members have to say about their director:

 …..Alain has a sensitivity to the “feeling of music” that I have not
 found in other choir directors, as well as an understanding of how
 the voice needs to develop its own resonance and colours.  He is
 constantly coaxing us to listen to the colour of music, and to be open
 to the emergence of something surprising from the group………I
 would rather work in a small church choir with Alain, than one of the
 larger choirs in Quebec City with a more well known director.

 We have great fun during rehearsals with Alain – he has a great sense of
 humour…....He always encourages us to strive to do our best.  When
 practicing the Sunday hymns, he seems to prefer to rehearse them in
 reverse order!  Don’t know why!  It’s one of his “things”.

 Before being a director, Alain is a friend:  a friend of the music,
 friend of the great composers, friend of each of the singers.  Like a
 friend, he calls on our group every Friday night and warmly welcomes
 everyone. ....... Because of Alain, being part of the C-W choir is a
 great moment in my life. …..You need a challenge in your life?  Join
 us every Friday for rehearsal.

  

Looking for a venue to present an event?

We are always seeking to broaden the scope of our activities.  We welcome musical and choral groups.
Theatrical and concert events are also encouraged.

Our neo-Gothic architecture with its warm interior is enriched by extraordinary stained-glass windows.
The acoustics have long been valued for performing and recording.

We have a magnificent thirty-five stop three manual Casavant organ.
When the central panel of the organ screen is removed audiences are given a
full view of the organ console and can watch the organist in action.

For further information,
please call (418) 692-2640

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