Longtin, Michel, 1946- : Born in Montréal, Quebec, in 1946, Michel Longtin completed his classical education at the Collège des Eudistes (1967), and began, the following year, private courses in music theory, analysis and composition with André Prévost. In 1970, he continued his studies at the Faculty of Music of the University of Montréal with various teachers, including André Prévost (composition) and Serge Garant (analysis). He received his Bachelor of Music degree in 1973, and also completed his master's degree with Prévost in 1975 and his doctorate with Garant in 1982. In speaking of his master's thesis, Bruce Mather said "Michel Longtin is a genuine creator who combines a sense of the magic of sound with the talent needed to structure a coherent whole." To further his knowledge, Longtin also studied electronic music at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto at a summer institute with Samuel Dolin (1971) and at McGill University with Paul Pedersen, Bengt Hambraeus and Alcides Lanza (1971-1975). In addition to music, he is interested in science, information technology and the dramatic arts. In the summers of 1963 and 1964 he took courses in acting, stage movement, diction and pantomime at the Banff School of Fine Arts in Alberta, and also in 1968 received a certificate in theatre production and direction from McGill University.
As a lecturer from 1973 to 1986, Michel Longtin taught composition, music literature and theory at the University of Montréal, the Cégep de Saint-Laurent, the École de musique Vincent-d'Indy, the École supérieure de danse du Québec, the Collège Marie-Victorin and McGill University. In 1987, he became a professor at the University of Montréal, where he taught various courses, particularly music composition, analysis and theory. An outstanding teacher, in 1992 he obtained the Prix d'excellence en enseignement from the University of Montréal.
Longtin, who was undeniably talented as a composer, received several awards, including the BMI Award to Student Composers (1972), for his work Il était une fois, an award from the Canadian League of Composers (1975), for Le Pèlerin d'Alnéoïl and Brandon North, in addition to the Jules Léger Prize for new chamber music (1986), for Pohjatuuli: Hommage à Sibelius. In the 1970s, the composer displayed a passion for exploring sound through intimate and profound electroacoustic music. The Groupe Nouvelle-Aire danced to some of his electroacoustic works: Mi-é-méta (1972) and the Trilogie de la montagne (1980), choregraphed by Paul Lapointe and Martine Époque. He composed several commissioned works in the course of his career, including Kata: San Shi Ryu (Société de musique contemporaine du Québec, 1982), Lettre d'Étienne à Jacques (Orchestre des jeunes du Quebec, 1983), La Route des pèlerins reclus (Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, 1984), Paix en migration (Centre francophone canadien of International P.E.N., 1989) and Sursolitudes (I Musici de Montréal, 1994).
