Jean-François Laporte is a composer, sound artist, and instrument inventor. As a child, he was drawn to music but found it “far too intellectual and not intuitive enough.”¹ He developed a love for working with materials, particularly wood, while helping his father on construction sites. Initially, he pursued studies in civil engineering and joined a recycling and asphalt research laboratory, before turning to music. In 1993, at twenty-five years old, he took lessons in classical guitar at a college of general and vocational education (CEGEP). He then enrolled in a master’s program at the Université de Montréal, and in 2002-2003, he completed the Composition and Computer Music Program at IRCAM alongside Philippe Leroux.

During his graduate studies, Laporte invented about ten instruments, including the Tu-Yo, the whistling can, the magic bowl, and the siren organ. All of these were based on the principle of air injection. He later automated these instruments with computerized control, allowing them to reach new sonic potential and create serene, fluid music without the need for human breath. This exploration comprises nearly half of his musical work, with pieces such as his Cursus piece Le Sang de la terre (Blood of the Earth, 2003), Vortex (2004), Rust (2010), and Vent d’orgue (Organ Wind, 2022). He also incorporates traditional instruments such as trumpet in Hommage (1999), violin in Confidence (2000), and flute in Intimité (Privacy, 1999), and repurposed objects such as a grain silo in L’Éveil d’un titan (Awakening of a Titan, 2001), and a ship’s chock. In 1995, he founded the Totem Contemporain ensemble, dedicated to performing his works with invented instruments. He later established Productions Totem Contemporain, a sound research organization, where he also serves as general and artistic director.

Laporte’s instrument designs reflect his fundamentally physical and intuitive approach, inherited from his early professional experience:

It’s a job of availability and listening. I want to discover and understand how sound vibrates, how it moves with this or that movement on this or that instrument. But I’m discovering things that already exist! Quite simply, I’m inclined to use things that perhaps others have set aside, because that’s what I find stimulating.²

His research has led him to collaborate regularly with contemporary dance choreographers, including Heidi S. Durning on Intuitive Sound Danse, Spiral Wind, and Kimono Series, and Susan Buirge on L’oeil de la forêt (2002, Eye of the Forest). Since 2002, he has become involved in installation projects, including Khôra (2002), presented in Canada, the United States, France, and Italy. His original sounds were also featured in the soundtrack of the film Le Collectionneur (2002) by Canadian director Jean Beaudin.

Laporte continues to explore his instrumental ideas, adapting the Tu-Yo into a musical toy that is easy to play, rich in sound, and requires no musical training — just creative curiosity.

Prizes and awards

• Opus Award for “Instrument Maker of the Year” from the Quebec Music Council, 2009
• First Prize at the international Città di Udine Competition, 2004
• First Prize in the mixed music category at the Luigi Russolo International Competition for Prana, 2003
• Awards for “Discovery of the Year,” “Composer of the Year,” and “Creation of the Year” for Tribal from the Quebec Music Council, 2002

<sup>1. “Jean-François Laporte, from Novelty to Novelty,” La Scena Musicale, 1 November 2000.<a href=“#ref1” title=“Return to note 1”>↩
2. “Jean-François Laporte, Woodworker of Sound,” Voir, 11 May 2005.<a href=“#ref2” title=“Return to note 2”>↩</sup>