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Dionne, Télesphore-Octave
Télesphore-Octave Dionne. Violin maker, bassist, b Quebec City 1869, d Montreal 30 Nov 1920. He began his career playing clarinet in the Montreal Concert Band, then took up the double-bass. He played 1905-6 in the J.-J. Goulet MSO. He was very young when he began his apprenticeship as a luthier, spending three years in Boston in the workshops of Gould and Sons. He returned to Montreal in 1890 to open his own workshop. A large part of his business was instrument repair, but he made a dozen violins and one cello, all finely finished. After his death his apprentice, Rosario Forget, took over the business but retained Dionne's name.
Dionne's brother J.F. Raoul (b Quebec City 2 Dec 1877, d ?) sang in the choirs of the Notre-Dame, Gesù, and St-Louis-de-France churches in Montreal. In Quebec City he established a choir, the Chanteurs de Saint-Dominque, which he continued to conduct as late as 1927, appearing with it that year in the CPR Festivals.
