Denis Gougeon

2025 Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award (Classical Music)

Composer

A prolific and versatile composer, Denis Gougeon is a prominent and influential figure on the contemporary classical music scene in Canada and internationally. The Canadian Music Centre has described his music as “at once accessible, dynamic, forceful and highly melodic.” Passionate about his craft, he is highly respected and trusted in the music community. With over 120 works to his credit- including music for solo instruments, chamber groups, orchestra, young audiences, voice, theatre, ballet, and opera-, he is one of Canada’s most widely recognized composers.
 
Denis Gougeon was born in 1951 in Granby, Quebec. He taught himself music theory and guitar, then undertook formal studies in musicology, guitar and composition.
 
In 1989, he was appointed the first composer in residence of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, in which role he composed several orchestral works and many concertos.
 
From 2001 to 2019, he taught composition at the Faculty of Music of the Université de Montréal. Popular with his students, he encouraged young musicians and helped train more than 100 graduate composers.
 
Through his longstanding association with fellow GGPAA laureate Denis Marleau, artistic director of Montréal’s UBU Compagnie de création, he has composed the score for a dozen of the company’s productions. He has received numerous commissions from various ensembles, soloists and institutions, as well as ballet and theatre companies throughout Canada and abroad.
 
Mr. Gougeon’s body of work reflects his enduring curiosity and his passion for music and sound. Among his favourite compositions, he lists Clere Vénus (2001), written for his spouse, soprano Marie-Danielle Parent; and À l’aventure!, an energetic piece written for the 1990 New Music America festival.
 
“I write to order,” he says. “I like to make musical garments tailored for the instrumentalists. I’m inspired by their talent and their expressive capacity: what a wonderful gift!”
 
Denis Gougeon’s awards and distinctions include a Juno Award, four Opus Awards, seven SOCAN Awards, the Prix du Québec for his outstanding contribution to the performing arts, and the Prix Serge-Garant from the Fondation Émile-Nelligan. In 2013, the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec dedicated its season to him.