Pierre Brabant

Pierre Brabant studied piano with Raymond David and J.-Élie Savaria 1942-3 before entering the CMM 1951-2. He also studied organ with Marcel Dupré (Paris 1949) and with Eugène Lapierre 1957. While he was very young he gave a recital, and in 1942 he appeared on the CBC program Young Artists of Tomorrow. Shortly afterwards, he won first prize in the CBC radio competition Les Talents de chez-nous. After a sojourn 1947-8 in Paris he undertook a 78-recital tour of Canada, playing many of his own compositions - Sonatine en do, Caprice laurentien, Cinq Cantilènes and Cinq Églogues. After his recital at Plateau Hall in Montréal, Jean Vallerand wrote: "Pierre Brabant is a splendid pianist and a fine artist. He also is a very intelligent, sensitive composer, with a solid technique and something to say" (Le Devoir, 20 November 1952). Brabant composed the music for Ruth Sorel's ballet La Gaspésienne (1949), premiered in Montréal and performed in Toronto, New York, and at the Warsaw Opera in 1950. He appeared as a solo pianist on the CBC TV program L'Heure du concert in 1954 and other programs.

Later, Brabant became interested in pop music, writing the music for Jean-Pierre Ferland's Feuilles de gui, which was awarded prizes on the CBC's Chansons sur mesure and in Brussels in 1962. He then composed the soundtracks for several CBC children's programs (Tour de terre, Au clair de soleil, Soleil et jours de pluie), and participated as pianist and composer in numerous recordings for children, including 20 Contes pour enfants par Tante Lucille (RCA Gala KTL-2-7020-1-4). Brabant was music director and arranger for some recordings by Jean-Paul Filion, Hervé Brousseau, Georges Dor and Félix Leclerc and also composed the music for La Semaine verte and Rue des pignons, a popular TV series for which he recorded the theme song (Sel SSP 24161) and played the background music 1967-78. Starting in 1987, he accompanied the bass Joseph Rouleau and as such took part especially in recitals devoted to the songs of Félix Leclerc.