Joseph Albert Maurice Blackburn (22 May 1914, Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 - 29 March 1988, Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

) was a Canadian composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

, sound editor for film, builder of string instrument

String instrument

A string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...

s, and musical adviser. A graduate of the Université Laval

Université Laval

Laval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...

 and the New England Conservatory, he won the George Allan Prize

George William Allan

George William Allan, was a Canadian politician. His mother Leah Tyrer, daughter of Dr. John Gamble, married Hon. William Allan, of York , U.C. Allan's father, William, was a pioneer who settled what was then the Township of York during John Graves Simcoe's term as Governor...

 in 1940. From 1942-1978 he worked as a film composer for the National Film Board of Canada

National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...

. In 1983 he was awarded the Albert-Tessier Prize for his life-work by the Quebec government.