Paul André Boivin

Boivin, Paul André

Paul André Boivin. Conductor, b Laval, Que, 3 Dec 1957; deuxième prix conducting (CMM) 1984. He first studied music at McGill University 1979-81 where he was the assistant of Uri Mayer, then head of the university's orchestra. He subsequently attended the CMM 1981-4 where he studied conducting with Raffi Armenian. In 1984 he undertook doctoral studies in conducting and in choral singing at Indiana U in Bloomington, during which period he was assisted by grants from the Canada Council and Indiana U. He also taught there and conducted the New Music Ensemble 1985-6. He took part in the summer sessions at the Aspen School of Music, Colo, in 1986, at the International Bartók Festival in Budapest in 1990, and at the Chigiana Academy in Siena in 1990. While music director of the Ballet de Montréal Eddy Toussaint 1986-90, he held the same post with the Plattsburgh (NY) SO 1987-8 and the Orchestre de chambre de Hull 1988-90. In 1988 he became the artistic director of the Laval Symphony Orchestra. In addition he also has conducted such orchestras as the Orchestre métropolitain, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, Symphony Nova Scotia, the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony Orchestra, the Windsor Symphony Orchestra, and the Tallahassee (Fla) SO. On the day following a concert of the NACO which he had conducted, Jean-Jacques Van Vlasselaer wrote: 'Paul André Boivin conducted the Mozart most beautifully, obtaining from the orchestra a well-rounded, full-blown sonority... it was a true demonstration of a talent which undoubtedly can only but develop further' (Ottawa-Hull Le Droit, 4 Nov 1989).