François Morel

François Morel belongs to an important group of Quebecois composers born out of Claude Champagne’s classes at the Montréal conservatory during the 1950s. Unlike his colleagues, Morel chose not to continue his musical studies in Europe, but decided instead to stay in Quebec. In October 1953, Leopold Stokoswki premiered his Antiphonie at Carnegie Hall, a work still frequently performed today. Since then, his works have been performed in major European cites, in Russia, Japan and China, as well as in the United States and South America, under the direction of such reputable conductors as Monteux, Ozawa, Meta, Decker and Abbado. François Morel was also highly involved in the Quebec music milieu in bringing about and producing events for the concert scene, recordings, theatre, radio, and television. Over a period of some twenty-five years, he worked as a freelance composer and conductor for the Société Radio-Canada. He was one of the founding members of the Société de Musique de Notre Temps, and Éditions Québec-Musique, as well as the founder and artistic director of the Ensemble Bois et Cuivres du Québec. François Morel taught analysis, composition and orchestration at the Université Laval between 1979 and 1997, where he also conducted the contemporary music ensemble. Named Chevalier de l’Ordre national du Québec in 1994, Morel also received the Prix Denise-Pelletier awarded by the Prix du Québec in 1996.