Rex Lelacheur, a composer, singer, and choir conductor

Rex Lelacheur

Corridor AA, Niche 41D (Mus)

Born in Guernsey in the Channel Islands on January 5, 1910, Lelacheur was a composer, singer and choir conductor. He studied first in Guernsey with his father, F.M. Lelacheur, before moving to Canada in 1927 and continuing his music studies in Toronto with H.A. Fricker and English musician John Hughes Howell.

Lelacheur’s career took off, and he was soon singing on radio in Toronto, performing with Ernest Dainty's trio and was a finalist in the 1944 “Metropolitan Opera Auditions of the Air” contest. He moved to Ottawa, where he worked for a time in insurance, but by 1951 he was again focusing solely on music and was teaching, conducting choirs and composing. Although mainly a choral composer, LeLacheur also completed Sonata da chiesa (1957) for the carillonneur Robert Donnell.

He wrote a number of songs and choral pieces which were published by Canadian Music Sales, Leeds, Harris, Chappell, and Archambault, including Forever England (1940, performed by the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir) and Centennial Hymn (1967), composed specifically for Canada’s Centennial celebrations. Lelacheur’s choral works were performed by the Rex Lelacheur Singers, active from 1956 to 1984, a 50-voice mixed choir.

Lelacheur also served as a music consultant to the Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons on the National and Royal Anthems in the late 1960s, and assisted in determining the official lyrics to O Canada.

He died in Ottawa on January 7, 1984.