Joël Pasquier

Pasquier, Joël

Joël Pasquier. Pianist, teacher, b Montmorency, near Paris, 25 Sep 1943, naturalized Canadian 1973; premiers prix piano, chamber music (Paris Cons) 1962. Son of the violinist Jean Pasquier of the Trio Pasquier of Paris, Joël Pasquier studied 1953-62 at the Paris Cons with Lucette Descaves, Pierre Pasquier, Annette Dieudonné, Geneviève Joy-Dutilleux, and Joseph Calvet. He did his military service 1962-3 as a drummer in a regimental concert band. He studied piano (concerto class) and orchestra conducting 1963-4 with Louis Fourestier at the Marguerite-Long Academy. He gave concerts 1954-65 in France and in 1964 in Tilburg, Holland. In 1965 in the Cannes periodical Le Journal Geneviève Via-Mazel wrote of the 'elegance, charm, and sensitivity' of his playing. That year he became the initial grant-holder in a Franco-US university exchange program and thereby was accepted as a pupil of György Sebök and an assistant in the Dept of Music, Indiana U. He performed in 1965 and 1967 in the USA before joining the teaching staff of Laval University in 1967. In November 1968 he toured cities in Canada and the USA with his cousin, the violinist Régis Pasquier. In the years following he often performed as soloist with the CBC Quebec Chamber Orchestra, notably 12 May 1975 in Poulenc's Concerto and 24 Mar 1977 in Jean Françaix's Concertino. He also played with the Orchestre de chambre Pierre-Morin. He gave the premiere 16 Apr 1975 of Variations by the young composer André Lamarche at the Institut canadien in Quebec City. Writing of his performance in Quebec City's Le Soleil René Dupéré noted 'assured craftsmanship' and 'a concern for detail.' Pasquier was appointed assistant director of the Music School of Laval University in 1977 and became its director in 1988.