Gilles Tremblay

His research into the field of sound is reflected in all his work by the use of instruments at the limits of their sound possibilities. Tremblay studied with Jean PAPINEAU-COUTURE, Claude CHAMPAGNE, Germaine Malépart and Jean VALLERAND in Canada; with Yvonne Loriod, Olivier Messiaen and Andrée Vaurabourg-Honegger in Paris, where he also studied the ondes martenot with Maurice Martenot and worked with the Groupe de recherches musicales of the Office de la radiodiffusion-television française; and with Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez and Henri Pousseur in Darmstadt.

His magnificent Sonorisation du Pavillon du Québec, electroacoustic music written for EXPO 67, won him the 1968 PRIX DE MUSIQUE CALIXA-LAVALLÉE. His commissions include Souffles (Champs II) from the SOCIÉTÉ DE MUSIQUE CONTEMPORAINE DU QUÉBEC (1968) and Fleuves from the MONTREAL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA (1977). His other major works include Kékoba, Oralléluiants, Envoi, Les Vêpres de la Vierge and Avec,"wampum symphonique." He received the CANADIAN MUSIC COUNCIL Medal in 1973, and the Council later proclaimed him "composer of the year" for 1977. In 1991 he was awarded the Prix Denise-Pelletier and appointed an Officer of the Ordre national du Québec. Tremblay taught until 1997 at the CONSERVATOIRE DE MUSIQUE ET D'ART DRAMATIQUE DU QUÉBEC in Montréal and was chairman (1982-88) and artistic director (1986-88) of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec.

Tremblay's music has been performed by many distinguished ensembles, including 2e2m, Domaine Musical, the Evergreen Club Gamelan Orchestra, the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, the New Music Concerts Ensemble, le Nouvel Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, l'Orchestre National de France, the ORCHESTRE SYMPHONIQUE DE QUÉBEC, the SMCQ Ensemble, and the Vancouver New Music Society. Recent works include the environmental work L'appel de Kondiaronk: symphonie portuaire (2000), the string quartet 'Croissant' (2001) and the viola concerto En partage (2002).