Wilfrid Pelletier

Joseph Louis Wilfrid Pelletier, was a Canadian conductor, pianist, composer, and arts administrator. He was instrumental in establishing the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, serving as the orchestra's first artistic director and conductor from 1935 to 1941. He had a long and fruitful partnership with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City that began with his appointment as a rehearsal accompanist in 1917; ultimately working there as one of the company's conductors in mainly the French opera repertoire from 1929 to 1950. From 1951 to 1966 he was the principal conductor of the Orchestre Symphonique de Québec. He was also a featured conductor for a number of RCA Victor recordings, including an acclaimed reading of Gabriel Fauré's Requiem featuring baritone Mack Harrell and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra and chorus.

20 June 1896

Born on the same birth day (20 June): Allan Lamb • Bálint Kopasz • Carol Zhao • Daniel Sawyer • Hans Niemann • Hassan Adams • Jean Baptiste Gay, 1st Viscount of Martignac • Jimmy Driftwood • Nicole Kidman • Pancho Segura • Sohn Suk-hee • Thomas Jefferson (musician) • Vasili Berezutski

Born in the same month (June 1896): Blanche Sweet • Charles Momsen • Douglas Campbell (aviator) • Henry Allingham • Imre Nagy • Italo Balbo • Leonard W. Murray • Murray Leinster • R. Palme Dutt • Robert S. Mulliken • Wallis Simpson