Richard Proulx (1937-2010) was a widely published composer of more than 300 works, including congregational music, sacred and secular choral works, song cycles, two operas, and instrumental and organ music. He served as consultant for The Hymnal 1982, the New Yale Hymnal, the Methodist Hymnal, Worship II and III, and has contributed to the Mennonite Hymnal and The Presbyterian Hymnal.
In 1991, Richard Proulx founded the Cathedral Singers as an independent recording ensemble. The group has sung a number of live concerts in the Midwest and has produced over 20 recordings of choral music.
A native of St. Paul, Minn., Proulx attended MacPhail College and the University of Minnesota, with further studies undertaken at the American Boychoir School at Princeton, St. John’s Abbey–Collegeville, and the Royal School of Church Music in England.
His organ studies were with Ruth Dindorf, Arthur Jennings, Rupert Sircom, Gerald Bales, and Peter Hallock. Training in choral conducting was provided by Bruce Larsen, Donald Brost, and Peter Hallock, along with extensive seminars with Donald Bryant, Robert Shaw, and Roger Wagner. Proulx studied composition with Leopold Bruenner, Theodore Ganshaw, Bruce Larsen, and Gerald Bales.
From 1980 to 1994, Richard Proulx was organist–music director at the Cathedral of the Holy Name in Chicago. He strengthened the cathedral’s outreach to the city it serves by establishing an extensive and innovative music program. His broad-based liturgical music program quickly became a model for cathedrals across the country. Proulx was also responsible for the planning and installation of two new mechanical-action organs for the cathedral: Casavant II/19 (Quebec, 1981) and Flentrop V/71 (Holland, 1989).
Before coming to Chicago, Proulx served at St. Thomas Church, Medina/Seattle (1970–1980), where he directed three choirs and a chamber orchestra, established a tradition of liturgical handbell ringing, and was organist at Temple de Hirsch Sinai. Previous positions included St. Charles Parish, Tacoma; St. Stephen’s Church, Seattle; and 15 years (1953–1968) at the Church of the Holy Childhood in St. Paul.
February 22, 2010
THE DIAPASON
