Académie de musique du Québec

Académie de musique du Québec (AMQ). (Académie de musique de Québec, 1868-1988). Non-profit association whose teacher-members are among the most representative Quebec musicians in the various disciplines. Founded in Quebec City in 1868 by Ernest Gagnon, Damis Paul, Louis Sigismond Pfeiffer, Albert Rochette, Gustave Gagnon, and A. Desrochers, its objectives were to promote an interest in music, raise the level of musical studies, and bring order to them by establishing programs, setting examinations, and granting diplomas and certificates in all branches of music teaching. It was incorporated in December 1870. At first, the AMQ was financed by the founders and their friends, the Quebec government supplying only a token amount of $100 a year, although that sum increased substantially when the AMQ began to administer the Prix d'Europe in 1911. Today it receives annual subsidies from the MACQ. The AMQ is administered by a board of directors consisting of an elected president, vice-president, treasurer, and secretary; an officer in charge of examinations; and five directors appointed for one-year renewable terms. To become a member of the AMQ a musician must be proposed by the board and accepted by a majority vote of the general assembly. There were about 50 members in 1979. The AMQ is independent of all political parties and schools of music and thus has the freedom to pursue its objectives. Each year several hundred students take examinations in instruments, voice, and theory. These are held in the main cities of the province. Each discipline is divided into from 6 to 10 classes: preparatory, elementary (one or two levels as required), secondary (several levels), advanced ("supérieur") and graduating ("Lauréat"). The minimum requirement for a diploma ("Lauréat only") or a certificate (other categories) is a 60 per cent average mark on all practical courses after a minimum of 50 per cent has been obtained in theory. Only the pieces that appear in the syllabus for each level are accepted for the performance examinations. The AMQ was the first private institution to award music diplomas in the province of Quebec. The first examinations in Quebec City were held 24 Aug 1871; the first in Montreal, 16 Jul 1872. The academy's records are deposited with the ANQ in Quebec City. Its presidents have been:

Gagnon, Ernest 1868-71, 1874-6, 1887-8, 1889-90

Mills, Frederick William 1871-2

Lagacé, Pierre-M. 1872-4

Lavallée, Calixa 1876-7, 1879-80

Jehin-Prume, Frantz 1877-8

Gagnon, Gustave 1878-9, 1881-2, 1883-4, 1885-7, 1893-4, 1895-6, 1897-8, 1899-1900, 1901-2

MacLagan, P.R. 1880-1

Letondal, Paul 1882-3, 1888-9

Pelletier, Romain-Octave 1884-5, 1894-5, 1902-4, 1909-10, 1915-16

Maffré, L.-A. 1890-1

Bishop, Edward Arthur 1891-2

Lavigne, Émery 1892-3, 1900-1