Philéas Roy

Roy, Philéas

Philéas (Alphonse) Roy. Organist, pianist, band conductor, choirmaster, writer, astronomer, b Quebec City 9 Nov 1857, d there 23 Nov 1939. He studied with Damis Paul (organ and piano), Célestin Lavigueur (violin), and Calixa Lavallée (harmony). He succeeded Nazaire LeVasseur to serve 1881-99 as organist at St-Roch Church and was a teacher at the Séminaire de Québec and at the Collège de Lévis. Besides his two children, Léo and Berthe, he taught J.-Arthur Bernier and Alphonse Tardif. He conducted the Union musicale, the 9th Infantry Regiment Band, and the Union Lambillotte.

In 1899 he settled in New York with his family. He taught piano at the New York College of Music and played the organ in several churches in New York and in Woonsocket, RI. He was interested in astronomy and built an observatory near his residence. In 1887, during a stay in France, he worked with Camille Flammarion to found the Société astronomique de France. At an international competition in 1892 he won a prize from that society. He wrote articles for several publications.