Background
Born in Montreal, Gagnier was the son of clarinetist Joseph Gagnier and received his earliest musical training from him.
composer conductor music educator
Born in Montreal, Gagnier was the son of clarinetist Joseph Gagnier and received his earliest musical training from him.
His compositional output includes several marches, waltzes, works for solo violin, and some chamber and symphonic music, all of which remains unpublished. He had 26 siblings, many of whom also became professional musicians of note, including Armand Gagnier, Ernest Gagnier, Guillaume Gagnier, J.-J. Gagnier, Lucien Gagnier, and Réal Gagnier. From 1918-1929, Gagnier served as the assistant conductor of Loew"s Theatre in Montreal.
He was also active as a violinist in a number of orchestras during the 1910s through the 1930s, including the Montreal Orchestra, the Little Symphony of Montreal, the Central Saint Martins Orchestra, and a number of theatre orchestras.
In 1936-1937 he was the second violinist in the Dubois String Quartet. In 1939, Gagnier moved to Trois-Rivières to assume the post of music director of the Union musicale de Trois-Rivières, a position he held for the next 11 years.
During that time he also taught at the Académie de Trois-Rivièresearch He had previously taught at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal and the Séminaire de Nicolet.
He died in Trois-Rivières in 1951 at the age of 58.