Robert Leroux

Leroux, Robert

Robert Leroux. Percussionist, teacher, administrator, b Montreal 10 Dec 1950; B MUS (Montreal) 1970. He studied percussion at University of Montreal and McGill University and orchestral timpani repertoire with Louis Charbonneau. He joined the SMCQ Ensemble in 1969 (becoming its chief percussionist in 1973), and played 1969-81 in the CBC Montreal orchestra, 1970-6 in the NACO, and 1973-84 in the orchestra of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. Tours with these ensembles took him across Canada, the USA (1970, 1976), and Europe (1977, 1988). Acknowledged as one of the finest percussionists in Canada, he has participated in the premiere of several Canadian works, including Clermont Pépin'sInteractions (1977), Walter Boudreau'sLes Sept jours (1978), Jean Papineau-Couture'sLe Débat du coeur et du corps de Villon (1979), Mike Roy's Landstaad Myr ou l'odyssée d'Alfred le serpent (1980), Denis Lorrain'sThe Other Shape (1985), Alain Thibault'sOut (1985) and Mecca-Nô (1988). He also took part in the Canadian or Montreal premiere of a large number of works by other composers such as Stockhausen (Kontakte, 1978), Xenakis (Psappha, 1979), Constant (Psyché, 1982), and Boulez (Le Marteau sans maître, 1985). Leroux has participated in several recordings as a member of the SMCQ Ensemble, the McGill Percussion Ensemble, Gropus 7, and the MSO, and also with such popular singers as Diane Dufresne, Jean-Pierre Ferland, and Gilles Vigneault. In addition to his performing activities, he began teaching at the University of Montreal in 1972 and was appointed dean of the Faculty of Music in 1988. He was president 1988-90 of the SMCQ and has been a judge at various competitions.