Canadian Institute of Music/Institut canadien de musique

Canadian Institute of Music/Institut canadien de musique

Canadian Institute of Music/Institut canadien de musique. Organization founded in Montreal in 1929 and directed by Rodolphe Mathieu; its aim was to create an intellectual milieu enabling 'young artists and literary talents to perform before an elite audience'. Its first concert, held on 27 Feb 1930, was devoted to Canadian women composers. In 1931 the institute claimed to possess 22 studios in the city and styled itself as 'the largest institution for general music instruction in Canada'. In 1930 the institute inaugurated its Soirées Mathieu. These concerts, given at first monthly and then at irregular intervals, continued until 1952 and took place successively at the Windsor and Ritz-Carlton hotels and at the Cercle universitaire. The first soirée (28 Oct), devoted to works by Mathieu, was given by Hortense Lord (Sonata for piano), Paul Trottier and the Durieux String Quartet (Deux Poèmes), and Lucien Plamondon and Ulysse Paquin, accompanied by the composer (Sonata for cello and piano and Saisons canadiennes). After that the soirées usually took the form of informal lecture-concerts, during which one or two speakers might address literature, art, philosophy, science, psychology, or politics, as well as music. Among the guest artists were George M. Brewer, Paul Doyon, Jean Leduc, Roland Leduc, Anna Malenfant, and the young André Mathieu, who presented his own compositions in 1935. The proceeds from the soirées were used to provide scholarships for the winners of an annual competition for advanced performers initiated by the institute in 1930. The winners also had the privilege of performing in recital at a Mathieu soirée. Fleurette Beauchamp, who appeared as a winner on three occasions, was also the first recipient of the institute's Prix de Paris (1933). The activities of the institute ceased around 1956.