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Noël Goemanne
Noël Goemanne (Poperinge, December 10, 1926 – Dallas, January 12, 2010) was a Belgian-born musician, who in 1952 emigrated to the United States, where he made a name for himself as an organist, as a
Noël Goemanne (Poperinge, December 10, 1926 – Dallas, January 12, 2010) was a Belgian-born musician, who in 1952 emigrated to the United States, where he made a name for himself as an organist, as a choirmaster, and as a composer, especially of sacred music. Education Goemanne began studying music at the age of six, and obtained his first music degrees magna cum laude from a so-called “central examination board”. He then studied full-time at the Lemmensinstituut, where he had renowned teachers, among them composer Marinus De Jong, choirmaster Jules Van Nuffel, and organist Flor Peeters, and at the Royal Conservatory of Liège, where he his teachers included Pierre Froidebise and Charles Hens. Subsequently, he studied for two more years with Flor Peeters as a private student. In Belgium During World War II, the Nazi occupier tried to persuade him to become a composer for the Third Reich, but he refused. He was later arrested for playing music by Felix Mendelssohn, a Jewish composer, in public. His wartime experiences turned him into a committed pacifist, which was reflected in his demand, to which he adhered till the end of his life, that his singers sing the “Dona nobis pacem” (Gran