Maurice André

Maurice André (born May 21, 1933) is a French trumpeter, active in the classical music field.

Biography

He is a classical virtuoso trumpeter, born in Alès, France in the Cévennes into a mining family. His father was an amateur musician.

He studied trumpet with a friend of his father's, who suggested that he be sent to the conservatory. In order to gain free admission to the conservatory, he joined a military band. After only six months at the conservatory, he won his first prize.

At the conservatory, Maurice's professor beat him out of frustration and told him to return when he could excel in his playing. A few weeks later, he returned to play all fourteen etudes found in the back of the Arban's book without a single mistake.^[1]

André won the Geneva International Music Competition in 1955 and the ARD International Music Competition in Munich in 1963. He was made an honorary member of the Delta chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia at Ithaca College in New York in 1970.

He rose to international prominence in the 1960s and 1970s with a large series of recordings of Baroque works on piccolo trumpet for Erato and other labels. Not content to limit himself to the standard Baroque trumpet repertoire, he also performed many transcriptions of works for oboe, flute, and even voice and string instruments. These recordings were (and remain) very popular, and were a strong component of the rebirth of interest in Baroque music in the 1960s. Fellow trumpeters and music lovers the world over have praised André for his clear, bright, ringing tone on the piccolo trumpet.

His flawless and graceful performances have inspired many brass musicians, young and old. (Wynton Marsalis, for example, was strongly influenced by André's style and tone in his own recordings of Baroque trumpet pieces.) He has over 300 audio recordings to his name, from the mid 1950s to the present.

He has two children: Nicolas, who plays trumpet; and Béatrice, who plays oboe. Both perform with their father in concert.

One of André's students, Guy Touvron wrote a biography on him entitled Maurice André: Une trompette pour la renommée (Maurice André: A Trumpet for Fame), which was published in 2003.^[2]

References

1. ^ Steven Chenette (2001). ""It's My Greatest Joy" : An Interview with Maurice Andre". International Trumpet Guild Journal 30: 08–19. 
2. ^ Cummings, Robert. "Guy Touvron". Allmusic. http://www.allmusic.com/artist/q57185. Retrieved 2010-12-15. 

External links

• Maurice André website, part of the French Ministry of Culture's portal (French/English)
• Webpage with rich information about Maurice André
• A French documentary about Maurice André by Alain Duault. 2009

Persondata
Name	Andre, Maurice
Alternative names
Short description	Trumpeter
Date of birth	May 21, 1933
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death