François Morel

François Morel (14 March 1926 – 14 January 2018 ) was a Canadian composer, pianist, conductor, and music educator. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec in 1994 and was awarded the Prix Denise-Pelletier in 1996. He has had his works premiered by the CBC Symphony Orchestra, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and the Philadelphia Orchestra.

Life and career Born in Montreal, Morel studied at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal from 1944 to 1953. His teachers included Claude Champagne (composition), Isabelle Delorme (harmony, counterpoint, fugue), Gérald Gagnier (conducting), Arthur Letondal (piano), Germaine Malépart, Jean Papineau-Couture (acoustics), and Edmond Trudel (piano). He was a founding member of the Canadian League of Composers in 1951. From 1956 to 1979 he worked for CBC Radio as a composer of incidental music, music consultant, and researcher.

Morel taught music analysis and composition at the Institut Nazareth from 1959 to 1961. In 1972 he was appointed director of the Académie de musique du Québec, a position he held through 1978. From 1976 to 1979 he taught at the Bourgchemin Cegep in Drummondville and from 1979 to 1997 he taught at Université Laval. He also served on the faculty of the Université de Montréal in 1979–1980. His work for guitar Me duele España, played by and written for guitarist Michael Laucke, was recorded on the Radio Canada International label (RCI 457) and won the Grand Prix du Disque of the Canadian Music Council in 1979 for the best Canadian recording.

He is among the first Quebec musicians to be trained exclusively at the CMM. From 1944 to 1953 he studied composition with Claude Champagne, acoustics with Jean Papineau-Couture, harmony, counterpoint and fugue with Isabelle Delorme and piano with Arthur Letondal, Germaine Malépart and Edmond Trudel. 1996 : Denise-Pelletier Award one of the Prix du Québec 2003 : Prix Serge-Garant, par la Fondation Émile-Nelligan 2013 : Prix Hommage, Prix Opus