Claude Champagne

Claude Champagne
Claude Champagne sitting at his desk, 1941
Born	(1891-05-27)27 May 1891 Montreal, Quebec
Died	21 December 1965(1965-12-21) (aged 74)
Occupation	composer violinist pianist
Nationality	Canadian

Claude Champagne (27 May 1891 – 21 December 1965) was a Canadian composer.

Born in Montreal, Quebec, he studied violin with Albert Chamberland, organ with Orpha-F. Deveaux, and piano with Romain-Octave Pelletier I and Alexis Contant at the Conservatoire national de musique. In 1921 he went straight to Paris to study music. By then he was drawn into modality, which stayed with him the rest of his life. At his return to Canada he became heavily involved with teaching, notably playing an instrumental role in establishing the Conservatoire de musique et d'art dramatique du Québec in 1942. In 1943 he was appointed the first assistant director of the Montreal Conservatoire. He was attached to the Montreal Catholic School Commission as co-ordinator of solfége in elementary schools, and he was at the same time professor at the McGill Conservatory. After that he mainly taught many of the country's most promising composers. He died in Montreal in 1965.