Gloria Richard. Soprano, teacher, teaching consultant, b Ste-Anne, NB, 21 Apr 1934; B MUS (Montreal) 1963, M MUS (Montreal) 1965, B ED (New Brunswick) 1970.

After two years of musical studies at Notre-Dame d’Acadie College, Moncton, she obtained her professional teaching diploma (piano and singing) in 1953. She then turned to teaching and producing radio programs on CBAF, Moncton. She resumed her voice studies at the École Vincent-d’Indy 1960-3 and at the University of Montreal 1963-5 with Pierrette Alarie, Louise André, Bernard Diamant, and Roy Royal.

She won first prizes in the ‘CBC Trans-Canada Talent Caravan’ (1959 TV competition) and at competition festivals in New Brunswick in 1957, 1958, and 1960, in Quebec City in 1961, and in Toronto. She was the winner of the 1963 JMC National Competition (YMC), received grants from the Canada Council in 1963 and 1964, and undertook a JMC tour 1964-5.

She was a winner in the 1967 Montreal International Competition. Between 1960 and 1970 she performed in recital and on CBC radio and TV in Halifax, Moncton, Montreal, and Toronto, and she has sung with the symphony orchestras of Edmonton, Halifax, Montreal, Quebec City, and Toronto. She was one of the first Acadian women to distinguish herself in the Canadian opera world.

In 1963, with the pianist Claude Savard, she recorded Lully’s ‘Chant de Vénus,’ the ‘Nocturne’ and ‘Rondeau’ from Campra’s Fêtes vénitiennes, Duparc’s La Vie antérieure, and three songs by Brahms (CD Club CD-JMC-3).

In 1965, after more than fourteen years on stage, Ms. Richard had the opportunity to offer young people the chance to discover music and the arts. As part of the comprehensive reform undertaken by Prime Minister Louis-J. Robichaud, with Equal Opportunity, Gloria Richard was invited to set up a music program for the province’s French and English school systems. The need for music and arts education in the school system was so great that she spent the rest of her professional life developing music and arts programs for New Brunswick schools. She taught singing from 1976-9 at the University of Ottawa.

In 2006, Gloria is a recipient of the Lieutenant Governor’s Lifetime Achievement Award. The artist is convinced of the need for children to receive an artistic education.

Source: The Canadian Encyclopedia / Arts Visuels / Research P. Richard