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Dionne, Vincent
(Lauréat) Vincent Dionne. Percussionist, composer, b Chicoutimi, Que, 15 Jan 1942; premier prix percussion (CMM) 1968. He studied 1962-6 at the CMQ with Roger Juneau and Louis Charbonneau and 1966-8 with the latter at the CMM. A solo percussionist with the American Wind Symphony in Pittsburgh in 1968, he subsequently made JMC tours 1968-9 in western Canada and in 1970 toured in Yugoslavia with Louise Forand and Jean Laurendeau. On a grant from the Canada Council he studied 1969-70 with Jacques Delécluse at the Paris Cons. He also worked 1970-1 with the Groupe de recherches musicales de l'ORTF and 1971-3 at the Centre américain in Paris with the Baschet brothers, inventors of the Structures sonores Lasry-Baschet. During this time he played percussion with the Pasdeloup Orchestra, accompanied Mikis Theodorakis on a European tour in 1971, and played in Vienna and Hanover with the Groupe international de musique électroacoustique de Paris.
On his return to Quebec in 1973 Dionne continued to give concerts. In Montreal he was a member 1973-5 of the Atelier de musique expérimentale. In February 1975, with the keyboard artist Michel-Georges Brégent, he formed the duo Dionne-Brégent, a 'rock-classico-cosmique' ensemble. Until 1979 the team experimented with a 'universe of sound in perpetual movement,' through the use of many instruments (suspended sheets of metal, glass jugs, etc), often of the two musicians' own design. They gave concerts in Montreal. The team also made JMC tours 1975-6 in Ontario and 1976-7 in Quebec.
As a percussionist, Dionne took part in improvised dance performances in Montreal (1978, 1980), London (1978), Quebec City (1979) and New York (1984). He also composed for such dance troupes as the Groupe de la Place royale, Entre-Six, Fortier Danse-Création and the Ballets Jazz de Montréal (see also Ballets). He wrote film music, notably for the NFB, as well as sound tracks for the theatre. Some of his works for percussion have been recorded: En mouvement and Château de cartes by the McGill Percussion Ensemble directed by Pierre Béluse (RCI 478), Chateau de cartes and Chaka by the ensemble Répercussion (1981, Croissant CRO-2001).
