Roger Wagner, Popular Choir Conductor

LOS ANGELES - Grammy-winning choir conductor Roger Wagner died yesterday while traveling in France. He was 78.

Wagner, who founded the Roger Wagner Chorale in 1946 and the Los Angeles Master Chorale in 1964, battled cancer for several years but had continued conducting on a guest basis, said Libby Huebner, a publicist for the Los Angeles chorale.

"Roger was a giant in the field of chorale music and created one of the greatest professional choirs in the country," said Marshall Rutter, chairman of the Los Angeles chorale's board of directors.

Wagner's last public performance was June 14, when he conducted the Choir of St. Cyril of Jerusalem in a Los Angeles performance of his "Mass in Honor of St. Francis."

Wagner was born in 1914 in Le Puy, France, the son of the organist at the cathedral in Dijon. His family emigrated to the United States in 1921.

In 1946, he formed the 32-member Roger Wagner Chorale, which performed on radio and television and on motion-picture sound tracks.

He is survived by his estranged wife, a son, two daughters, one grandson, a brother, two sisters and his longtime personal manager and companion, Donna Hackley.