Achille Fortier

Much of his work remains unpublished and some of his music is now lost as it was destroyed by a fire. The Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec holds more than 30 of his original scores in its collection.

Born in Saint-Clet, Canada East, Fortier received his initial musical training at the Petit Séminaire de Saint-Thérèse just outside Montreal where he was a pupil of Father Sauvé. He then pursued further studies with Guillaume Couture and Dominique Ducharme in Montreal. In 1885 Fortier went to France where he studied for the next five years. Among his teachers there were André Gedalge and Ernest Guiraud (music composition). In 1889 he attended the Conservatoire de Paris, the first Canadian to be admitted as a regular student. In 1890 Fortier returned to Canada to join the teaching staff at the Institut Nazareth in Montreal where he was an instructor for classes in counterpoint, harmony, and singing. He also taught similar courses at the Dames du Sacré-Coeur Convent, the Villa-Maria Convent, and at the Conservatoire of the Canadian Artistic Society. Some of his notable pupils included Jean-Noël Charbonneau, Gabriel Cusson, Frédéric Pelletier, and Édouard LeBel. From 1892 to 1893 he served as the choirmaster for the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal. He later worked in Ottawa for many years as a French to English translator for the Canadian federal government, beginning in 1900. He died in Viauville at the age of 74.