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Denis Gougeon |
 Biography |
DENIS GOUGEON completed a master’s degree in composition under Serge Garant at the Faculty of Music of the University of Montreal. Pursuing a very active career as a composer, he has received numerous commissions from ensembles and performers throughout Canada, such as the Vancouver New Music Society, the Répercussion ensemble, Magnetic Band in Vancouver, soprano Marie-Danielle Parent and the Orchestre Métropolitain, the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec, the Association des Orchestres de Jeunes du Québec, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, flutist Lise Daoust, Ondes Martenot performer Jean Laurendeau, the Rencontres Musicales de Sorèze (France), the Esprit Orchestra in Toronto, the Canadian Chamber Players, the Canadian Music Competitions, New Music America, SDRS Culture and the Corporation of the Montreal 350th anniversary celebrations, the National Arts Centre Orchestra in Ottawa, the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and the Percussion de Strasbourg, the Ensemble Clavivent, etc.
One of the leading composers of his generation, Denis Gougeon is also among the few in Canada who devote themselves entirely to composition. At once accessible, dynamic, forceful and highly melodic, his music has been very well received by the public and the press in North and South America as well as in Europe. Denis Gougeon is particularly fond of writing with performers whom he considers marvellous "ambassadors".
SEVERAL HIGHLIGHTS
Denis Gougeon received a commission from the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto for a chamber opera, “An Expensive Embarrassment”, which was staged on May 16, 17 et 18, 1989. Adapted by Timothy J. Anderson from The Proposal by Anton Tchekov, the play was translated into French and staged for piano and voice by the company Opéra Plume in Chicoutimi QC, on May 28, 1998.
Denis Gougeon’s works have been performed throughout Canada, the United States and Europe. During the summer of 1988, his composition Heureux qui, comme... was selected to represent the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation at the Unesco International Rostrum of Composers in Paris. It was subsequently broadcast in thirteen countries. In the fall of 1988, the Société de Musique Contemporaine du Québec performed Heureux qui, comme... on its European tour in France, Germany, Belgium and Holland.
From 1984 to 1988, he was lecturer at the Faculty of Music of the University of Montreal and guest professor of composition at the Faculty of Music of McGill University. Moreover, he was columnist for the Radio-Canada program Musiques Actuelles in 1984 and 1985.
Denis Gougeon was a director of the Montreal new music society Les Événements du Neuf, from 1982 until the organization put an end to its activities in March of 1990. In this capacity, he took part in the planning, the organization and the presentation of events which often departed from the traditional concert format.
Collaboration with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, 1989-92
In January of 1989, Denis Gougeon was appointed composer-in-residence at the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, the first composer to hold this function. During his tenure, the MSO premiered Jardin Secret for english horn and orchestra, as well as Fragile, Fixe, Fugace. His work À l’Aventure! was performed by the MSO during the orchestra’s South American tour in June 1991. This work was awarded the First Prize at the first orchestral composition competition organized by SOCAN.
Collaboration with the World Youth Orchestra
In August 1992, the Orchestre Mondial of the Jeunesses Musicales, conducted by the late Eduardo Mata, premiered in France and Quebec his work Un fleuve, une île, une ville, commissioned by the Corporation of the Montreal 350th anniversary celebrations.
UN TRAIN POUR L’ENFER
On September 29, 1993, Un train pour l'enfer, a joint commission from the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and the Percussions de Strasbourg, was premiered in Strasbourg, France, during the prestigious MUSICA 93 festival. The work received its Montreal premiere on May 10, 1995, during a concert by the NEM, and it will be recorded shortly. Selected by the international jury of the ISCM, Un train pour l'enfer was very well received when it was performed in Copenhagen, Denmark, on September 8, 1996.
On January 30th 1999 Un train pour l'enfer was again performed by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne and Les Percussions de Strasbourg in a concert at the Festival Présences hosted by Radio-France
Collaboration with the Théâtre UBU
At the request of stage director Denis Marleau, Denis Gougeon composed the music for the play Roberto Zucco, by Bernard-Marie Koltès, which was staged to great critical acclaim in June 1993 at the Théâtre des Amériques festival. This score won the Prix de l’Association québécoise des critiques de théâtre (AQCT) for the 92-93 season, in addition to the «Masque» for the best original score at the first Gala de l’Académie Québécoise de Théâtre, on November 20, 1994.
Once again during the Festival de Théâtre des Amériques, in May 1995, Denis Gougeon authored the music for Thomas Bernhard’s play Maîtres anciens, directed by Denis Marleau of the Théâtre UBU. Moreover, he wrote the music for Passage de L'Indiana by Normand Chaurette, a new production premiered at the prestigious Avignon festival. He also composed the music for Nathan Le Sage, presented in the main courtyard of the papal palace in Avignon, on July 10, 1997; this play was subsequently performed in several European festivals and throughout France during the fall of 1997.
Collaboration with Gilles Vigneault
November 1995 saw the premiere of the musical tale Le Piano muet, based on an original text by the great poet, author and songwriter Gilles Vigneault. Since then, the work has been performed throughout Quebec.
The ERATO Quartet from Basel
Denis Gougeon’s string quartet Jeux de cordes was premiered by the ERATO Quartet from Basel, Switzerland. This work was also performed on May 19 1996, during a concert celebrating Paul Sacher’s 90th birthday.
Recent premieres and commissions:
An important premiere by the Bayerische StaatsBallett in Munich: Emma B.
On March 24th 1999 the Bayerische Staatsballett premiered Emma B., based upon Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert at the National Theater in Munich. The choreography is by Jean GrandMaître.
Denis Gougeon has a concerto for piano and orchestra for pianist Richard Raymond premiered at the Festival International de Lanaudière in the summer of 1999.
The I MUSICI Ensemble (founded and conducted by Yuli Turovsky) has premiered a work for its 15th anniversary in May 1999.
JULY 2001
