André Gagnon
Biography André Gagnon
André Gagnon
OC, a renowned Canadian composer, conductor, arranger and actor was born in August 1939 in Saint-Pacôme-de-Kamouraska, Quebec, Canada. The youngest of nineteen children, Gagnon began composing at the age of six.
Extremely notable for his fusion of classical and pop styles, André Gagnon also composed for television as well as for theater and cinema. Some of his most notable songs are "Pour les Amants", "Turluteries" and "Mes Quatre Saisons".
In 1974, André Gagnon released Saga, his first album, composed solely of original instrumental pieces. In 1975, the album Neiges which was released in New York under the title Driven Snow, stayed on the American Billboard’s Top 10 for twenty- four weeks and sold 700,000 copies worldwide. The album Neiges also won a Juno award for the most purchased album in Canada. In 1978, André Gagnon was made an officer of the Order of Canada. In the fall of 1979, Gagnon received his first Félix, an award created by the Quebecois music industry in the instrumental cat- egory for the album Le Saint-Laurent. Gagnon went on world tour in 1981 to the United States, Venezuela, Mexico, Greece, and Romania. During this year, he also composed original music for the filmTell Me that You Love Me, a production of Astral Films. In October, he recorded Impressions in the famous Abbey Road studio.
In February 1990, Gagnon wrote the music for the opera Nelligan. A studio recorded double album of the opera, bearing the same name, was released shortly after.
In January 1992, Gagnon composed the music for the film, The Pianist and 1999 saw the release of the album Juliette Pomerleau. The album Les chemins ombragés was released during the summer of 2011 and achieved gold status shortly after.
