# Rachel Laurin

Rachel Laurin (rah-SHELL law-RAN, August 11, 1961 – August 13, 2023) was a Canadian organist, composer and music educator in Quebec.

## Biography

Rachel Laurin was born in Saint-Benoît, Quebec, on August 11, 1961. Laurin studied organ with Lucienne L'Heureux-Arel [de]. She went on to study at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal with Gaston Arel [fr], Raymond Daveluy and Raoul Sosa. In 1985, she received the McAbbie Foundation scholarship and, in the following year, the Bourse d'excellence Wilfrid-Pelletier. She performed in Canada, the United States and France. She received the Conrad-Letendre scholarship five times. From 1986 to 2002, she was assistant organist at Saint Joseph's Oratory of Mount Royal. In 1988, she started teaching at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal. From 2002 to 2006, she was titular organist at Notre Dame Cathedral in Ottawa.
Laurin started composition lessons at age 19 with Raymond Daveluy, developing her "creative skills in a tonal, accessible language". She was the "house composer" at Wayne Leupold Editions from 2006. In her latter years, Laurin only composed commissioned pieces. Her very first commissioned piece was requested by organist Donald S. Sutherland and his wife, soprano Phyllis Bryn-Julson. The piece was premiered at a regional convention of the American Guild of Organists (AGO) in Pittsburgh in 1987.
Reviewing a 2013 album of Laurin's newer works, The American Organist magazine wrote: "While sometimes criticized as being 'not contemporary enough', it is this very quality that makes her music so appealing." In a review of a 2016 recording, Choir & Organ magazine commended her "imaginative and demanding scores", "well crafted in a kind of New World fusion of musical styles from France, Germany and England."
In 2008, Laurin received the Holtkamp-AGO Composition Award. In 2009, she was awarded first place in the AGO's Marilyn Mason New Organ Music Competition. Laurin won the AGO's Distinguished Composer Award in 2020, and the 2022 Pogorzelski-Yankee Composition Competition in 2022. She became an honorary Fellow of the Royal Canadian College of Organists (FRCCO) in 2023.
Laurin died from cancer on August 13, 2023, at the age of 62.

## Selected compositions

Ensemble works:
* Messe pour les fêtes solennelles Opus 4 (1983)
* Messe de louange, Opus 15 (1990)
* Opus 17 for viola, flute, and piano (1990)
* Opus 18 for chamber ensemble (1990)
* String Quartet, Opus 19 (1991)
* Concerto in D for Organ, String Orchestra and Timpani, Op. 59 (2011)
* Fantaisie à Deux, Op. 88 (organ duet, 2019)
* Cantabile à Deux, Op. 99 (organ duet, 2021)
Solo organ works:
* Suite Brève, Op. 6 (1988)
* Sonate en Fa, Op. 7
* Hommage à Lucien Daveluy, Op. 13
* Scènes vosgiennes, Op. 16 (1989)
* Prèlude, Op. 24
* Variations sur un Noël Lorrain, Op. 26 (1995)
* Quatre Pèlerinages en Lorraine, Op. 30 (1996)
* Trois Pièces, Op. 31 (2012)
* Symphonie No. 1, Op. 36 (2008)
* Acclamations, Op. 37
* Étude Héroïque, Op. 38 (2012)
* Petite Suite sur un Motet de Gerald Bales, Op. 41 (2005)
* Douze courtes Pièces, Op. 43
** Volume 1 (2006)
** Volume 2 (2010)
** Volume 3, Op. 64 (2014)
** Volume 4, Op. 68 (2016)
** Volume 5, Op. 75 (2018)
* Introduction and Passacaglia on a Theme by Raymond Daveluy, Op. 44 (2011)
* Prélude et Fugue en Fa Mineur, Op. 45 (2008)
* Partita on "Nun danket," Op. 47 (2009)
* Épilogue, Op. 50 (2014)
* Royal Canadian Fanfare, Op. 53 (2012)
* Trois Bagatelles, Op. 54
* Symphonie No. 2, Op. 55
* Greensboro Suite, Op. 56 (2011)
* Sept Pièces, Op. 58 (2012)
* Berceuse à Pierre, Op. 61
* Fantaisie et Fugue sur le Psaume Genevois 47, Op. 62
* Suite in D major for Don Menzies, Op. 63
* Étude-Caprice "Le Rire de Belzébuth," Op. 66 (2016)
* Poème Symphonique pour le Temps de l'Avent, Op. 69 (2017)
* Étude Symphonique pour Pédale Solo, Op. 72 (2016)
* Fantaisie et Fugue en Ré Majeur, Op. 73
* Aria et Fugue pour Aaron, Op. 74
* Three Impressions of Kingsfold
* Humoresque (Hommage à Marcel Dupré), Op. 77
* Finale, Op. 78 (2018)
* Pièce de Concert, No. 1, Op. 79
* Pièce de Concert (Hommage à Buxtehude), No. 2, Op. 86
* Sonate pour orgue, No. 1, Op. 91
* Ten Little Sketches for Ten Little Fingers, Op. 92
* Petit Triptyque, Op. 93
* Concert Piece No. 3 (Mr. Mistoffelees Overture), Op. 94
* Fantasia quasi scherzo, Op. 95
* Concert Piece No. 4 (Sweelinck Variations), Op. 96
* Concert Piece No. 5 (Tone Poem in Honour of Saint Benedict on "Gaudeamus" and "Laeta Dies"), Op. 97
* Étude-Esquisse (Bagatelle burlesque, Hommage à Beethoven) No. 2, Op. 98
* Thirteen Easy Pieces, Op. 100
* Concert Piece No. 6 (Fantasy and Fugue on a Swedish Folk Song), Op. 102
* Concert Piece No. 7 (Toccata for a Great Space), Op. 103
* Diptych, Op. 107