Irène Brisson

Brisson, Irène

Irène Brisson (b Jourinn). Teacher, musicologist, broadcaster, b Paris 20 Jan 1946, naturalized Canadian 1975; premier prix history (Paris Cons) 1969, premier prix musicology (Paris Cons) 1971. A Frenchwoman of Russian descent, she studied music in Paris at the École César-Franck 1963-70, and at the Conservatoire 1967-71 where she worked with Norbert Dufourcq, among others. Having settled in Quebec City, she began, in 1973, to teach the history of music, music literature, and history of art at the CMQ. She was a founding member of the Assn de musique actuelle de Québec in 1978 and of ARMuQ in 1980. Having for a long time researched music at Versailles during the time of Louis XIV, she has concentrated her work on the study of the affinities which may exist between music and literature, as well as on keyboard repertoire and on music in Quebec. She has prepared numerous broadcasts for CBC radio, especially for the series 'Pour le clavier,' besides being a frequent guest on 'Musique en fête', 'Chronique du disque,' and 'L'Opéra du samedi'. In great demand as a lecturer, she is also the author of articles published in Quebec's leading music journals and has contributed to Canadian Contemporary Composers and to EMC. As director of Productions musicales Cibé, she produced, in 1987, an LP of the saxophonists Jean-Yves Fourmeau and Claude Brisson, her husband. The latter (b Chicoutimi, Que, 20 Apr 1943) studied at the CMQ and continued his training in Paris where he obtained the premier prix of the Conservatoire in 1970 in the class of Daniel Deffayet. He teaches at the CMQ and became a member of the Pierre Bourque Saxophone Quartet at its inception in 1963.