Denis Gougeon, composer and teacher, born in Granby, Quebec, has written more than eighty compositions including orchestral works, chamber music, film scores, opera, ballet, and pieces for solo instruments and voice. He learned to play the guitar in his teens, studied composition with André Prévost and Serge Garant, and was awarded higher degrees at the Université de Montréal. From 1984–1988 he taught composition at McGill University. In 1989 he became the first composer-in-residence of the Montréal Symphony Orchestra, holding that post until 1992. Since 2001 Denis Gougeon has been a member of the music faculty at the Université de Montréal, and has won a number of prestigious competition prizes in Canada and internationally.

— Graham Wade