André Gagnon
André Gagnon (born August 1, 1942 in Saint-Pacôme / Québec ) is a Canadian composer, pianist, conductor and actor.
Life
Gagnon had piano lessons with Léon Destroismaisons and studied from 1957 to 1961 at the Conservatoire de musique à Montréal with Germaine Malépart , Clermont Pépin and Gilberte Martin . With a scholarship from the Québec government, he studied in Paris with Yvonne Loriod in 1961 and took courses in piano accompaniment and conducting.
From 1962 to 1969 he worked as an arranger and accompanist with the singer-songwriter Claude Léveillée and participated in most of his recordings. He also worked as a companion to Jacques Blanchet , Pierre Calvé , Renée Claude , Claude Gauthier , Pauline Julien , Pierre Létourneau and Monique Leyrac . In addition, he appeared in the CBC television series Cri-Cri from 1962 to 1964 as a piano accompanist and was musical director of the series Moi et l'autre from 1966 to 1970 . In addition, he appeared in several films between 1965 and 1975 as an actor. Later he occasionally worked as a cameraman and film producer.
In 1969 Gagnon recorded the cycle Mes Quatre Saisons in the style of Vivaldi in London , for which he used themes from songs by Jean-Pierre Ferland , Félix Leclerc , Claude Léveillée and Gilles Vigneault . At the Expo '70 in Osaka he was one of the artistic representatives of Canada. He toured France (1975-1976), Mexico (1976) and the USA (1979). In 1978 he presented a show at Massey Hall in Toronto.
In 1977 the National Ballet of Canada performed his ballet Mad Shadows (based on the novel La Belle Bête by Marie-Claire Blais ) at the O'Keefe Center in Toronto . After a concert tour with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 1981 , he performed in Venezuela, Mexico, Romania and Greece. Rencontre est-ouest, based on poems by Albert Lozeau , premiered in 1984 by the Tudor Singers of Montreal .
In 1989 Gagnon performed with the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra under Kazuyoshi Akiyama . He recorded several albums for the Japanese market in the following years and toured Japan several times in 1991 and between 1996 and 2003.
In 1990, his romantic opera Nelligan (based on a libretto by Michel Tremblay ) was premiered at the Opéra de Montréal . The Montreal Symphony Orchestra under Jacques Lacombe performed the work again in 1995 in a symphonic instrumentation by Gilles Ouellet .
Gagnon composed numerous film scores and music for television series as well as disco and pop titles such as Neiges , Smash , Chevauchée , Surprise , Donna and Mouvements . Between 1978 and 2003 he received a Félix Award, among other prizes for ten record productions . In 1978 he was appointed Officer of the Order of Canada .
Works
- Les Turluteries
- Mes Quatre Saisons , 1969
- Petit Concerto pour Carignan et orchester , 1976
- Mad Shadows , ballet, 1977
- Rencontre est-ouest , 1984
- Nelligan , romantic opera, 1990
- Cher Amadeus
- Pour endormir ma mère
Film music
- Running , 1979
- Phobia , 1980
- Kamouraska , 1980
- Hot Touch , 1981
- Tell Me That You Love Me , 1982
- Cudowne Dziecko , 1987
- The Pianist , 1991
- Naran , 1995
- Pour l'amour de Thomas , 1994
- Le boulard , 1995
Music for TV series
- Vivre en ce pays , 1967-1971
- La Souris verte , 1967-1976
- Forges du St-Maurice , 1972-1975
- Techno-Flash , 1973-1977
- Des dames de coeur , 1987
- Un Signe de feu , 1989
Filmography
- 1965: La Vie Heureuse de Leopold Z (as an actor)
- 1968: Le viol d'une jeune fille douce (as an actor)
- 1975: Gina (as an actor)
- 1993: Deux Actrices (as cameraman)
- 1980: A man for everything ( L'Homme à tout faire ) (as cameraman)
- 1982: Au Clair de la Lune (as cameraman)
- 1994: La vie d'un héros (as producer)
- 2005: Les Guerriers (as producer)
Discography
- André Gagnon - piano et orchester , 1964
- Léveillée-Gagnon , 1965
- Une voix, deux pianos , 1966
- Pour les amants / Don't Ask Why , 1968
- Notre amour , 1969
- Mes quatre seasons , 1969
- Let It Be Me , 1971
- Les Grands succès d'André Gagnon , 1971
- Les Turluteries , 1972
- Projection , 1973
- Saga , 1974
- Neiges , 1975
- Le Saint-Laurent , 1977
- Mouvement , 1979
- Virage à gauche / Left Turn , 1981
- Greatest Hits , 1982
- Impression , 1983
- Comme dans un film , 1986
- Des dames de coeur , 1988
- Nelligan , 1990
- Noël , 1992
- Les Jours tranquilles , 1993
- Presque bleu , 1993
- Romantique , 1994
- Piano , 1995
- Twilight Time , 1996
- (Musique) Coffret du collection , 1996
- André Gagnon au Center Molson , 1997
- Éden , 1997
- Juliette Pomerleau , 1999
- Printemps , 1999
- Été , 1999
- Automne , 1999
- Hiver , 1999
- Histoires rêvées , 2001
- Impressions vol. 2 , 2002
- Piano Solitude , 2003
Chart placements
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 US
|
Dance
|
|||
| 1976 | Wow Neiges |
US95 (3 weeks) US |
Dance5 (11 weeks) Dance |
First published: December 1975
The Disco Sound of André Gagnon Instrumental; Author: André Gagnon |
| 1977 | Surprise | - |
Dance30 (7 weeks) Dance |
First published: December 1976
The Disco Sound of André Gagnon Instrumental; Author: André Gagnon |
swell
- ↑ Chart sources: Billboard Hot 100 / Joel Whitburn : Hot Dance / Disco 1974-2003, ISBN 978-0-89820-156-7
Web links
- André Gagnon's website
- André Gagnon at Discogs (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Gagnon, André |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian composer, pianist, conductor and actor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 1, 1942 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saint-Pacôme , Quebec |