André Durieux

Durieux, André

André (Henri) Durieux. Violinist, conductor, arranger, teacher, b Paris 1899, d Montreal 18 Dec 1951. His family settled in Canada in 1911. He studied at the McGill Cons with Saul Brant and in Chicago with Otakar Ševčík and Leopold Auer. Returning to Montreal he joined the McGill Cons and taught violin there 1923-37. In 1924 he was concertmaster of the orchestra of radio station CKAC and the Little Symphony of the Northern Electric station CHYC, as well as first violin of CHYC's string quartet. He was first violin of the Durieux String Quartet, which included his brother Maurice (second violin), Lucien Robert (viola), and Lucien Plamondon (cello). The pianist Léo-Pol Morin joined the group for quintets. During its short existence (1930-2), the quartet gave numerous concerts, mainly for the Ladies' Morning Musical Club and the Arts' Club, and at the Windsor and Ritz-Carlton hotels. Along with Henri Delcellier, Giulio Romano, and Benny Chaskelson, among others, Durieux was a founding member of the Montreal Orchestra and was its assistant concertmaster 1930-2. In 1935 he began a long association with CBC radio, conducting orchestras for such light-music programs as 'Ici Paris' in 1935, 'Bonjour Paris' in 1938, and 'Sur les boulevards' in 1939, and for talent searches like 'Les Talents de chez-nous,' which he developed in 1946. He wrote some waltzes and chansonnettes, including 'La Java des Laurentides' and 'C'est que je t'aime'.