Conrad Bernier was a French-Canadian organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

, composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, and teacher

Teacher

A teacher or schoolteacher is a person who provides education for pupils and students . The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional...

.

Early life and education

Born into a prominent family of musicians in Quebec City, Bernier is the brother of pianist Gabrielle Bernier and cellist/journalist Maurice Bernier

Maurice Bernier (journalist)

Maurice Bernier was a Canadian journalist, cellist, and music critic. He wrote music criticism for the Quebec City newspaper L'Événement from 1922-1932. He then worked as a reporter stationed at the National Assembly of Quebec for the next four decades. Born in Quebec City, Bernier was a member of...

, and the uncle of musicians Françoys Bernier

Françoys Bernier

Françoys Joseph Arthur Maurice Bernier was a Canadian pianist, conductor, radio producer, arts administrator, and music educator. He served as the music director of the Montreal Festivals from 1956–1960 and was an active conductor and radio producer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during...

, Madeleine Bernier, and Pierre Bernier. His first teacher was his father Joseph-Arthur Bernier

Joseph-Arthur Bernier

Joseph-Arthur Bernier was a Canadian organist, pianist, composer, and music educator. Born in Lévis, Quebec, he was the senior member of a prominent family of musicians from Quebec City...

, who introduced him to solfège, organ

Organ (music)

The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...

, and piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

. He continued his keyboard studies with Berthe Roy, and became so proficient, that he inaugurated the organ of the church at Bienville when he was only 13 years of age. The following year he inaugurated that of St-Sacrement Church in Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

. In this church he would serve 1920-23 as principal organist, while he was also assistant organist at St-Jean-Baptiste.

In 1923 Bernier won the Prix d’Europe to study organ in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. There he studied 1923-26, taking piano with Sylvia Hérard and Simone Plé-Caussade, Music Theory with Georges Caussade (theory), and organ with the great organist from Bordeaux, Joseph Bonnet

Joseph Bonnet

Joseph Bonnet was a French composer and organist.One of the major French pipe organ players, Joseph Bonnet was born in Bordeaux. He first studied with his father, an organist at St. Eulalie. At the age of 14, he became official organist, first at St. Nicholas and almost immediately at St. Michael...

, for whom he also substituted at the great organs of the church of St-Eustache. In 1962 he was awarded a Doctorate

Doctorate

A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder to teach in a specific field, A doctorate is an academic degree or professional degree that in most countries refers to a class of degrees which qualify the holder...

 of Music from St. Francis, Loretto, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

.

Professional career

In 1926 he returned to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 for a concert tour, after which he was organist at the Church of the Visitation in Detroit for several months. His next appointment was at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

, where he became director of the Organ Department in 1927. In that capacity he taught for almost half a century until he was named Professor Emeritus in 1974. After that he continued teaching counterpoint

Counterpoint

In music, counterpoint is the relationship between two or more voices that are independent in contour and rhythm and are harmonically interdependent . It has been most commonly identified in classical music, developing strongly during the Renaissance and in much of the common practice period,...

, fugue

Fugue

In music, a fugue is a compositional technique in two or more voices, built on a subject that is introduced at the beginning in imitation and recurs frequently in the course of the composition....

, and composition

Musical composition

Musical composition can refer to an original piece of music, the structure of a musical piece, or the process of creating a new piece of music. People who practice composition are called composers.- Musical compositions :...

 until the eve of his death in 1988, having a number of distinguished students, among them Don Shirley

Don Shirley

Don Shirley is an American-Jamaican jazz pianist and composer.Shirley's prodigious piano skills were recognized early and Shirley began his career as a composer and virtuoso performer at a young age....

, Helmut Braunlich

Helmut Braunlich

Helmut Braunlich is a German-American violinist, composer, and musicologist.-Education:He received his formal musical education at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria, where he studied violin with Christa Richter-Steiner, composition with Egon Kornauth, and music history with Eberhard Preussner...

, Richard S.Parks, Thomas Tumulty, Richard Reiter, Dieter Lehnhoff

Dieter Lehnhoff

Dieter Lehnhoff is a composer, conductor, and musicologist.-Life:Born in Guatemala City to German settlers, 1955, Dieter Lehnhoff has been a pupil of Klaus Ager, Gerhard Wimberger, Josef Maria Horváth, and Dr. Friedrich C. Heller in Salzburg...

, Anthony Doherty, and Micheal Houlahan. In Washington he was organist at the church of Ste. Anne (1935–69) and also became the regular organist of the Basilica

Basilica

The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...

 of the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception

Immaculate Conception

The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology...

. During World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, he was one of the three interim conductors of the Cathedral Choral Society

Cathedral Choral Society

The Cathedral Choral Society is a 200-voice symphonic chorus based at the Washington National Cathedral. J. Reilly Lewis has been music director since 1985. He succeeded Paul Callaway, who founded the group in 1941...

 at Washington National Cathedral

Washington National Cathedral

The Washington National Cathedral, officially named the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul, is a cathedral of the Episcopal Church located in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. Of neogothic design, it is the sixth-largest cathedral in the world, the second-largest in...

. He returned to Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

to give courses 1943-47 and to give recitals and performances for the Casavant Society.

Books

• Harmonie moderne
• Traité d'improvisation à l'orgue (1962)
• Organ Method/Méthode d'orgue (Toledo, Ohio, 1962).

Selected compositions

• Croquis petit-capiens (Édition Belgo-Canadienne)
• Variations et fugue for two pianos
• Esquisse and Prière for organ
• Réverie for organ
• Mass for mixed-voice choir and two organs
• Two songs, 'Les Colombes' and 'Les Berceuses';
• Motets, published mainly by Quebec City's Procure générale de musique.