Quebec singer Joseph Rouleau, who has appeared on the world's greatest operatic stages with singers such as Luciano Pavarotti, Placido Domingo, and Maria Callas, and worked with such prestigious directors as Luchino Visconti, Franco Zeffirelli, John Gielgud, and Patrice Chereau, died on Friday at the age of 90.
An internationally renowned bass singer, Rouleau was the first student in singing to be admitted to the Conservatoire de musique du Quebec in Montreal at the turn of the 1950s.
Rouleau also performed with European and American orchestras and gave 1,000 performances at the Royal Opera House of London's Covent Garden.
He was instrumental in the creation of the Opera de Montreal in 1980 and was also a professor of singing at UQAM.
Last May the City of Montreal awarded Rouleau the Commander's Medal, which is the highest rank of the Order of Montreal.
His other honorary titles include Officer of Arts and Letters of France, member of the Canadian Hall of Fame, Officer of the National Order of Quebec and Companion of the Order of Canada.
