Albert Chamberland

Chamberland, Albert

Albert Chamberland. Violinist, conductor, producer, teacher, composer, b Montreal 12 Oct 1886, d there 4 Apr 1975. He studied violin with Jean Duquette and later at the McGill Conservatory with Alfred De Sève, and made his debut as a soloist in 1904. A member of the Goulet MSO, the Beethoven Trio 1907-10, and the Dubois String Quartet 1910-20, he was one of the founders in 1920 of the Montreal Philharmonic Orchestra, and was the first violin 1920-5 of the Chamberland String Quartet (Norman Herschorn, violin, Eugène Chartier, viola, Raoul Duquette, cello). He joined the Montreal Orchestra in 1932 and was concertmaster 1934-9 and assistant conductor 1939-48 of the SCSM orchestra. A music producer 1937-52 for the CBC French network, he was responsible for such programs as 'The Little Symphonies' and 'Récital'. He taught at several schools, including the Conservatoire national and the Villa-Maria Convent in Montreal, and served on several competition juries. Among his pupils were Alexander Brott, Norman Herschorn, and Lucien Martin.

Chamberland's compositions included an Allegro militaire for band, a Sérénade for violin and piano, an Étude de concert d'après Rode (Édition Belgo-Canad'ienne ca 1925), and a Fantaisie on the tune 'Un Canadien errant', played by him at the Monument national 13 Apr 1926. His recordings as soloist and with his trio, four 78s for His Master's Voice, are listed in Roll Back the Years.

In 1984 a street in the Rivière-des-Prairies district of Montreal was named after him. Chamberland's sister Luce, a pianist, married the basso Ulysse Paquin.