Nicolas Gagnon

Music teacher and choir director at the St-Frédéric basilica in Drummondville, Nicolas is invited to many projects as a composer, copyist, and saxophonist. His catalog includes compositions for saxophone, piano, concert band, orchestra and choir. Some of his pieces are published by the Alliance chorale du Québec and by his company, Productions Con Spiritu.

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Raised in a family of professional musicians, Nicolas studied at the Cégep Drummond where he obtained a DEC in Jazz Composition and Arrangement, a DEC in Saxophone Interpretation and an AEC in Creation and Sound Editing .  He then went to the University of Montreal where he obtained a bachelor's degree in writing . He then went to the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM) where he obtained a bachelor's degree in music education and a DESS in film music . During his training, he worked on the saxophone with Pierre Daigneault, Billy Boufard and Mathieu Gaulin, and worked on musical composition with Denis Mailloux and François-Hugues Leclerc .

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In 2005, he launched the album Le chaplet enchanté following an order to set the prayers of the rosary to music. The album travels to Pope Benedict XVI. For the 2007-2008 season, he was the choirmaster and accompanying pianist for the Euphonie choir in Drummondville. In 2014, he won 1st prize at the 3rd edition of the composition competition organized by the Polymnie Vocal Ensemble for his piece Lève-toi… et viens! In June 2015, the Vocalys ensemble under the direction of Raymond Perrin premiered its oratorio Virgo Fidei . From 2017 to 2020, he is the conductor of the intergenerational choir and the adult choir and saxophone teacher at Le Jardin Musical school in Longueuil. In 2021, the Alliance chorale du Québec commissioned a work from him to represent the Centre-du-Québec region as part of the “Au choir des regions” project. The piece was premiered on December 12, 2021 by the choir Les Gospangels. In 2021, pianist Marie-Pierre Labelle commissioned a piece from him, Contemplation au bord du St-Laurent, for her album Hommage. Since 2020, he has been teaching music in Drummondville. In 2022, he became the choirmaster of the St-Frédéric basilica in Drummondville. In 2024, he published his book Une musique à ta portée - Guide pour la mise en page de partitions musicales.