François Morel, born in Montreal in 1926, was part of a large group of Quebec creators from the class of Claude Champagne at the Conservatoire de musique de Montréal in the 1950s. Unlike his colleagues, he rejected the idea of ​​going to Europe; he remained in Quebec and met Varèse in New York. This choice did not compromise the development of his international career. In October 1953, Leopold Stokowski premiered Antiphonie at Carnegie Hall, a work by François Morel that is still frequently performed. Since then, his works have been performed in major cities in Europe, Russia, Japan, China, the United States and South America, under the direction of the most renowned conductors such as Monteux, Ozawa, Metha , Decker and Abbado. He worked for over 25 years as a freelance composer and conductor at Radio-Canada. He was one of the founders of the Société Musique de Notre temps, Éditions Québec-Musique, and the founder and artistic director of the Ensemble Bois et Cuivres du Québec.

François Morel taught, from 1979 to 1997, at the Faculty of Music of Laval University in Quebec City, musical analysis, composition and orchestration; he was also involved as a conductor in contemporary music workshops including an ensemble of twelve flutes, an ensemble of fifteen brass and the Contemporary Wood, Brass and Percussion Ensemble. In 1994, he was awarded the rank of Chevalier de l'Ordre national du Québec and received the Denise Pelletier Award at the 1996 Prix du Québec.

Source : Les productions d’Oz