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Jean Papineau-Couture, CC GOQ (French pronunciation: [ʒɑ̃ papino kutyʁ]; November 12, 1916 – August 11, 2000) was a Canadian composer and academic.

Born in Montreal, Papineau-Couture was the grandson of conductor and composer Guillaume Couture.^[1] 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. His students included François Morel, Pierre Rolland, and Jeannine Vanier.

A champion of contemporary Canadian classical music, he was the founding president of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec in 1966.^[2]

He was the recipient of many honours including the Calixa-Lavallée Award (1962), Prix Denise-Pelletier (1981),^[3] Officer of the Order of Canada (promoted to Companion in 1993),^[4] Grand Officer of the National Order of Quebec (1989), ^[5] and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award (1994).^[6]

He died in Montreal on August 11, 2000.

The Papineau-Couture portrait in the Canadian Composers Portraits series was released in 2002.^[7]

• Bail Milot, Louise (1975). “Papineau-Couture, Jean”. In MacMillan, Keith; Beckwith, John (eds.). Contemporary Canadian Composers. Oxford University Press. pp. 171–75. ISBN 978-0-19-540244-5.
• Bail Milot, Louise (1986). Jean Papineau-Couture : la vie, la carrière et l’œuvre (in French). Hurtubise HMH. ISBN 978-2-89045-799-7.
• Bradley, Ian L. (1977). “Jean Papineau-Couture”. Twentieth Century Canadian Composers. University of Victoria. pp. 98–111. ISBN 978-0-88874-052-6.
• Lasalle-Leduc, Anne (1964). La vie musicale au Canada français (in French). Ministère des affaires culturelles (Québec).
• Richer-Lortie, Lyse (1974). “Papineau-Couture, Jean”. In Vinton, John (ed.). Dictionary of Contemporary Composers. Dutton. pp. 553–54. ISBN 978-0-525-09125-7.
• Richer-Lortie, Lyse (1995). “Papineau-Couture, Jean”. In Sadie, Stanley (ed.). The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. Vol. 14. Macmillan. p. 171.

• Media related to Jean Papineau-Couture at Wikimedia Commons

• Jean Papineau-Couture The Canadian Encyclopedia biography by Louise Bail Milot.
• Jean Papineau-Couture Canadian Music Centre
• Jean Papineau-Couture discography at Discogs