Pierre La Plante

Pierre LaPlante

Biography

Pierre La Plante (not Laplante) (25 September 1943, West Allis, Wisc.) is an American composer of French-Canadian descent. He grew up in Sturgean Bay, Wisconsin. He received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where he was a composition student of James Christensen. La Plante plays bassoon with the Beloit-Janesville Symphony Orchestra. He recently retired after teaching general music and beginning band at Pecatonica Elementary School in Blanchardsville, Wisconsin, for 25 years.

La Plante has adjudicated for solo and ensemble contests and played bassoon in regional orchestras, including the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra and the Beloit-Janesville Symphony. He is currently a member of MENC, ASCAP, Wisconsin Music Educators Conference, Wisconsin Youth Band Directors Association, as well as the Madison Wind ensemble. He resides in Oregon, Wisconsin.

Works for Winds

• American Riversongs (1991)
• American Sketches (2014)
• At the Old Camp Ground (2017)
• The Cat's Pajamas (2018)
• Caribbean Rondo (2009)
• Come to the Fair!
• Early One Morning (as arranger) (2005)
• English Country Settings (1997)
• Great American West Suite, The (2013)
• In the Forest of the King (2000)
• Legends and Heroes (2003)
• Minka's Sleigh Ride (2007)
• Music for the King's Delight (2007)
• Overture on a Minstrel Tune (1979)
• Prairie Songs (1998)
• Prospect (1983)
• Red River Valley, The (as arranger) (2001)
• Song of the Mountain Horn (as arranger) (2013)
• Songs of the Plains (2015)
• Suite of Old French Songs (2015)
• The Thunder and the Roar (2004)
• The Voyageurs (2002)
• Walk in the Morning Sun, A (2010)
• Winds A' "Whispering" (as arranger) (1920/2009)
• Yorkshire Folk Song Suite (2016)

References

• Camphouse, Mark, editor. (2004) Composers on Composing for Band. Volume 2. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 169–196.
• Ethington, Bradley P. "Early One Morning." In Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 6, edit. & comp. by Richard Miles, 344-348. Chicago: GIA Publications, 2007.
• Miles, Richard B., and Larry Blocher. 2010. Teaching Music through Performance in Band. Volume 1. Chicago: GIA Publications. pp. 217.
• Pierce La Plante, personal correspondence, February 2018
• Pierre La Plante website