The University of Quebec at Montreal (UQAM) has paid a permanent tribute to one of its former Music Department professors, the illustrious composer Jacques Hétu, by naming one of the halls of the university’s Music Pavilion after him. The Jan. 18 naming ceremony of the Jacques Hétu Hall was attended by the UQAM Rector, Claude Corbo, the Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Louise Poissant, the Director of the Music Department, André Lamarche, the composer himself and some 60 guests. The ceremony highlighted the influence of Hétu’s works as well as his contributions to the composing community and to the development of the university’s Music Department. Hétu, a SOCAN member, was the 2009 winner of SOCAN’s Jan. V. Matejcek New Classical Music Award.

The composer, who taught at UQAM from 1979 to 2000, served two terms as Head of that institution’s Music Department. A former Laval University (1963-1977) and University of Montreal (1972-1973 and 1978-1979) professor, Hétu has trained a whole generation of Quebec composers, including Denys Bouliane, Antoine Padilla, Jean-Claude Paquet and André Lamarche. With a catalogue of more than 150 works, frequently commissioned by prestigious cultural and arts organizations, Hétu is one of Canada’s most prolific and most performed composers.