Denis Lortie is a former Canadian army corporal. In 1984, he stormed into the National Assembly of Quebec building and killed three Quebec government employees.

Cpl Lortie was a Supply Technician in the Canadian Forces and was disgruntled with a number of policies of the Quebec and federal governments. He planned a killing spree as a means of broadcasting his discontent.

On May 7 of that year, Lortie left the CFS Carp military base (better known as the Diefenbunker) pretending that he needed time off to arrange a divorce with his wife. Instead, he rented a car, drove to Quebec City and took a guided tour of the Quebec Parliament Building. He then rented a room in a motel on Laurier Boulevard for the night.

The next day, at 9:30 a.m., Lortie walked into CJRP radio station in Quebec City and dropped off a sealed envelope containing an audiotape for one of the station's hosts, André Arthur. He instructed the radio staff not to open the envelope until 10:30 a.m. but they opened it anyway, discovering that it was a statement of Lortie's plans, in which he declared that "The government now in power is going to be destroyed." However, by the time radio staff contacted police, Lortie's plan had already been put into action.

Saint Denis (also called Dionysius, Dennis, or Denys) is a Christian martyr and saint. In the third century, he was Bishop of Paris. He was martyred in connection with the Decian persecution of Christians, shortly after A.D. 250. After his head was chopped off, Denis is said to have picked it up and walked ten kilometres (six miles), preaching a sermon the entire way, making him one of many cephalophores in hagiology. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church as patron of Paris, France and as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. The medieval and modern French name "Denis" derives from the ancient name Dionysius.

Gregory of Tours states that Denis was bishop of the Parisii and was martyred by being beheaded by a sword. The earliest document giving an account of his life and martyrdom, the "Passio SS. Dionysii Rustici et Eleutherii" dates from c. 600, is mistakenly attributed to the poet Venantius Fortunatus, and is legendary. Nevertheless, it appears from the Passio that Denis was sent from Italy to convert Gaul in the third century, forging a link with the "apostles to the Gauls" reputed to have been sent out under the direction of Pope Fabian. This was after the persecutions under Emperor Decius had all but dissolved the small Christian community at Lutetia. Denis, with his inseparable companions Rusticus and Eleutherius, who were martyred with him, settled on the Île de la Cité in the River Seine. Roman Paris lay on the higher ground of the Left Bank, away from the river.

Louis Lortie, OC, CQ (born 27 April 1959) is a French-Canadian pianist. He currently lives in Berlin.

He is known for his interpretation of Ravel, Chopin and Beethoven. He is an international soloist, and has made over 30 recordings on the Chandos label.

Born in Montreal, Louis Lortie made his debut with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra at the age of thirteen and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra three years later. Soon after he performed an historic tour of the People’s Republic of China and Japan.

He won First Prize in the Busoni Competition in 1984. He was also a prize-winner at the Leeds Competition. He was named an Officer of the Order of Canada, and was made a Knight of the National Order of Quebec as well as an honorary doctorate from Université Laval. He also teaches at Italy’s renowned piano institute at Imola.

Uri Mayer (born August 4, 1946 in Târgu-Mureş, Romania) is Romanian-born Canadian violist and conductor.

Mayer moved to Israel at a young age, and studied at the Conservatory of Music of Tel-Aviv and the University of Tel-Aviv. His conducting debut took place in 1964 while he was still in high school.

He was Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra of Israel (1964-1970), and was a member of the Israel Philharmonic (1967-1968). After winning a scholarship in 1968, he moved to New York City to study with Jean Morel at the Juilliard School. He was Assistant Conductor of the New York Youth Symphony and principal violist with Leopold Stokowski’s American Symphony Orchestra. In 1970, he became assistant principal violist of the Montreal Symphony Orchestra, and in 1980, he became Associate Conductor.

From 1981 to 1994, Mayer was Music Director of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. He was also Principal Conductor of Orchestra London (1988-1994), Artistic Adviser to the Israel Sinfonietta (1991-1999), and Principal Conductor of Kansai Philharmonic (1994-2000).