André Asselin

(Paul) André Asselin. Pianist, composer, writer, born Montreal, 25 Feb 1923, died Montreal 26 Jan 2012. He began piano study with Auguste Descarries and, on two scholarships (1945,1946) from the TCM (RCMT) studied with Ernest Seitz and Lubka Kolessa. In 1948 he undertook a South American tour as pianist-conductor for a dance company from the Paris Opera. He also appeared in recital in Canada, in South America and then in France. In the early 1950s he settled in Paris. He has given many hundreds of recitals to favourable notices in Europe, playing the classical repertoire and works by Canadian composers, including Archer, Champagne, Descarries, André and Rodolphe Mathieu, Pentland, Pépin, Somers, and Willan. He has composed works for piano and is the author of Panorama de la musique canadienne (Paris 1962, 1968). He returned to Montreal in 1987.