Jean Papineau-Couture

Who was Jean Papineau-Couture?

Jean Papineau-Couture, CC GOQ was a Canadian composer and academic.

Born in Montreal, Papineau-Couture is the grandson of conductor and composer Guillaume Couture. As a child he studied piano with his mother. He first studied privately in Montreal with Gabriel Cusson before entering the Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf where he received a Bachelor of Arts in 1937. He then attended the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston where he received a Bachelor of Music in 1941. He studied with Nadia Boulanger at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Returning to Quebec, Papineau-Couture's teaching career started in 1946 when he joined the faculty of the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal where he stayed until 1962. He also taught in the Faculty of Music at the Université de Montréal. He was named vice-dean in 1967 and dean from 1968 until 1973. Two of his notable pupils were François Morel and Pierre Rolland.

In 1962 Papineau-Couture was awarded the Calixa-Lavallée Award. In 1968, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and was promoted to Companion in 1993. In 1989, he was made a Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec.