Born in Montreal 1916, Jean Papineau-Couture received his training in that city and later at the New England Conservatory in Boston. He also studied for several years with Nadia Boulanger in the US. Combining his career as a composer with important posts as a teacher, he taught 20 years at the Université de Montréal and he was for five years Dean of the Faculty of Music at the same university. His output comprises a nearly complete range of genres, from solo instrument to large orchestra. On the whole however, his works display a preference for various groups of chamber music.