|
The Swiss choral conductor and music pedagogue, Jean-Jacques Rapin, successively held the posts of teacher (1952-1960), director of music at the Collège de Béthusy in Lausanne (1960-1968), Professor of music at the École normale (1966-1983) and finally director of Conservatoire de Lausanne (1984-1998). Alongside his music career, he assumed military responsibilities as lieutenant-colonel of artillery. He exercises command for seventeen years in the Brigade de forteresse 10, including the Groupe fortifié de Saint-Maurice. He was also a founder of the l'Association Saint-Maurice d'études militaires.
From 1976 to 1984, Jean-Jacques Rapin was a member and president of the Commission musicale de la Société cantonale des chanteurs vaudois. He directed La Lyre de Moudon and the Union chorale de Vevey and gave concerts in collaboration with the Orchestre symphonique de Bienneand the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne. Impressed and influenced by Ernest Ansermet, he participated in 1979 in the creation of the Association Ernest Ansermet. Friend of the widow of Wilhelm Furtwängler, he is responsible for the translation and the French edition of the Carnets (Diary) of the latter.
Since 1975, Jean-Jacques Rapin was a member and president of the Fondation Pierre et Louisa Meylan. During his first year of management at the Conservatoire y, he created the Jeudis du Conservatoire and was awarded the Hugo-de-Senger for all of his musical activity. Two years later, he inspired the creation of the Association vaudoise des conservatoires et écoles de musique. Finally, in 1989, he was appointed President of the Association puis de la Fondation de of the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne (OCL), a position he left in 2001. It was under his direction that the Conservatoire moved in 1990 into its new premises, the Anciennes Galeries du Commerce. He demonstrated this ambitious undertaking, during the events celebrating the 20th anniversary of the "new" Conservatoire de Lausanne in November 2010.
Moreover, many publications have marked his fifty-year career, including À la découverte de la musique (7th edition, Lausanne, Payot, 2001), De la garnison de Saint-Maurice à la Brigade de forteresse 10 [1892-2003] (Maurice, Association Saint-Maurice d'études militaires, 2004), L'esprit des fortifications: Vauban - Dufour, les forts de Saint-Maurice (Lausanne, Presses polytechniques et universitaires, 2010).
To honor the commitment of Jean-Jacques Rapin for his activity in favor of the culture within the Lausanne city, the Municipality awarded him the Médaille d'or (Gold Medal) of the City in 2001, given to him at the Casino de Montbenon à la salle Paderewski on December 6, 2001. in 2006, the prize of the Association Vauban was given to him for all his work on the ortifications. Jean-Jacques Rapin died on July 23, 2015 following a short illness. A fund Jean-Jacques Rapin was created by the Bibliothèque cantonale et universitaire de Lausanne. |
