Théodore Duguay

Biographical notes


"Théodore Duguay was born in 1904 in Rivière-au-Tonnerre, a small village in the Gaspé Peninsula. He was one of the six children of Alfred Duguay and Georgiana Lévesque. As a youth Duguay began to play the accordion, receiving tutelage from his mother, also an accordionist.  He won the $50.00 first prize in an accordion contes held in Quebec City in 1937, and a week-long engagement at Quebec’s Imperial Theatre with Madame Bolduc.  Music, however, was an avocation as he earned his living as a stevedore in Quebec.  Between 1938 and 1950 he often played on C.H.R.C. radio in Quebec City and with their sponsorship, performed in various localities.  A versatile musician, Duguay not only played diatonic accordion, piano, harmonica and left-handed fiddle, but he was also an excellent step-dancer. He participated in a few radio broadcasts such as ‘Les Soirées Canadiennes.’

He was very popular in Quebec City and in the region. As a composer he recorded and dedicated “Alice Waltz” to his wife, although the “Tavern Waltz,” was never recorded. In 1945 he recorded two discs on the Vox label, a recording company which belonged to the newspaper L’Action Catholique. While he did not record many discs he is well remembered by those who witnessed his performances. He died in Quebec on Jan. 16, 1950." [Gabriel Labbé, "Masters of French-Canadian Music vol. 4", Folkways Record RF 115, 1982].