Jacques Labrecque

Born on June 8, 1917 in Saint-Benoît (Canada), and died in Longueuil on March 18, 1995, Jacques Labrecque was a Quebec singer and folklorist. He studied vocal art during the 1930s. In 1934, he began his career as a tenor and singer on radio programs. In 1946, he signed a three-year contract with National Concerts and Artists of New York and toured Acadia. He recorded his first albums in 1948. The following year, he landed his first film role in a British movie, The Soho Conspiracy . He continued his career in Europe from 1951 to 1956, performing traditional Canadian songs. His first big hit was Jean-Paul Filion's "La Parenté " in 1957. He collaborated with Gilles Vigneault, who wrote several songs for his 1960 album Carnaval À Québec Avec Labrecque . In the early 1970s, he presented a series of didactic concerts on folklore. He also won a grant from the French government to teach French-Canadian song repertoire at the Université Paris-VI until 1976. On his return to Canada, he presented a series of 14 programs devoted to folk songs, and gave his last concert in 1979, at the Grand Théâtre de Québec. In the 1980s, he produced albums and directed Éditions du Patrimoine in the Charlevoix region (Canada).