Jeanne Joulain

Jeanne Angèle Desirée Yvonne Joulain (22 July 1920 – 1 February 2010) was a French organist, concertist and music educator.

Born in Amiens, Joulain's first contact with music was made thanks to her musician parents.

Her father, a teacher in Paris, played the violin and her mother was a piano teacher.

So it's only natural that she should start playing the piano with her mother.

In 1934, after a decisive meeting with the great pianist Raoul Koczalski, Jeanne Joulain entered the conservatory of Amiens.

During her studies, she followed the classes of solfeggio, piano (class of Maurice Coze), cello (class of Mario Camerini, pupil of Paul Bazelaire), chamber music, orchestra, harmony, counterpoint, musical composition (classes of Pierre Camus, the director, himself a pupil of composition of Charles-Marie Widor, and organ when the class was created in 1936 (class of Colette Ponchel, one of the last pupils of Louis Vierne) where she won the first prizes. It was during this period that her pedagogical activity began, as she had to make several replacements for teachers of music theory, piano, cello, harmony and organ. In 1938, the grand organ of Amiens Cathedral was restored. After the inauguration concert given by Marcel Dupré, a small orchestra was formed to accompany Salvation. Jeanne Joulain was a member of this orchestra as a cellist and it was on this occasion that she was introduced to Marcel Dupré by Pierre Camus, the director of the conservatory.

In 1943, after her first training at the Conservatoire d'Amiens, her desire to go further prompted her to enrol at the École César Franck, where she perfected in the same disciplines and obtained diplomas of piano (class of Jean Batalla), cello (class of Edwige Bergeron-Brachet), organ (class of Édouard Souberbielle and Abel Decaux) after two years.

In addition, she won the diploma of musical composition (class of Guy de Lioncourt) after five years.

In 1945, Jeanne Joulain decided to write to Marcel Dupré with the intention of taking private lessons.

The latter, after having assessed her level, offered to prepare her to enter the conservatory.

For two years, she attended the "petit cours" in Meudon and in 1947 she passed the entrance exam for the Conservatoire de Paris.

In 1950, she won the competitions to be able to teach and began teaching in February 1951 at the Conservatoire de Lille.

where she obtained the First prize of organ and musical improvisation in 1952 (class of Marcel Dupré).

In October 1952 at that of Roubaix, which she left for the conservatory of Douai from 1960 to 1970.

Michel Alabau (organist in charge of the Saint-Séverin church in Paris), René Courdent (organist in charge of churches Église Saint-Christophe de Tourcoing and Notre-Dame des Anges of Tourcoing), Patrick Delabre (titular organist of the Cathedral Notre-Dame de Chartres), Yves Devernay (titular organist of Notre-Dame de Paris), Jérôme Faucheur (titular organist of the churches of Bondues and Wambrechies and organ teacher in Comines and Hazebrouck), Marie-Agnès Grall-Menet (titular organist of the grand organ of Saint-Nicolas-du-Chardonnet church in Paris), Philippe Lefèbvre (titular organist of Notre-Dame de Paris), Jean-Philippe Mesnier (successor of Jeanne Joulain as organ teacher at the Douai Conservatory (1970-2000), titular organist of the Saint-Pierre de Douai collegiate church), Marguerite Spillaert (honorary organist of the Saint-Pierre-Saint-Paul church in Lille) etc.

She was titular organist of the Sainte Jeanne d'Arc church in Amiens, of the Mutin-Cavaillé-Coll of the Collégiate church Saint-Pierre of Douai and finally of the Delmotte of the Saint-Maurice church in Lille.

She has given numerous recitals in France (including in Chartres Cathedral, Saint-Sulpice, Notre-Dame de Paris, Bordeaux, Béziers, Toulon, Belley, and abroad (Altenberg, Mons, Brussels, Tournai, St Brice and Tournai Cathedral, St. Patrick's Cathedral in New-York city, and St Paul's Cathedral in London.

In addition to her teaching and concert work, she was a correspondent for the Musique-Sacrée magazine L'Organiste.

She also participated in numerous juries of competitions for organ classes.

Her teaching activities ceased in 1982.

In the long list of people who have attended her courses were

Jeanne Joulain died in Lille on 1 February 2010 at the age of 89.

Many fellow organists were present at her funeral in Lille, during which the organ was played by Jean Guillou.

Jeanne Joulain is the author of pieces for solo organ, voice and piano, voice and orchestra and various instrumental ensembles.

In addition, she has made several reconstructions of improvisations on the organ by Pierre Cochereau.