About Me
Try the BEST MySpace Editor at MySpace Toolbox !Maurice André was born on May 21, 1933 in Alès, near Nimes, France. His father, also named Maurice, was a trumpet-playing coal miner, and that was what young Maurice became as well: he learned to play trumpet from his father, and became an apprentice coal miner at the age of 14, remaining in that job until he was 18. (He reports that his father played the instrument with great endurance.) Maurice's brother Raymond is also a trumpeter, and has appeared in concert with Maurice. Maurice was accepted into the Paris Conservatory in 1951. He studied with Sabarich and Barthélémy. After both his first and second years he won first prize in cornet and in trumpet. He joined the Lamoureux Orchestra (1953-1960), the French Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (1953-1962) and the orchestra of the Opéra-Comique (1962-1967). He also played in jazz groups. In 1955 he was a first prize in an international competition in Geneva. A similar and even more brilliant victory in the International Music Competition of the German Radio, in Munich in 1963, launched his unprecedented solo trumpet career.He made his American debut as a soloist with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra as it toured. Since then, he has had an active concertizing, touring, and recording career that embraces virtually the entire period of trumpet solo music from Baroque to avant-garde. He was a particular champion of the Baroque repertoire, and important in popularizing the use of the small piccolo trumpet (in the keys D or E flat) in such music. He has made nearly 300 recordings, including recordings of over 30 concertos. Among the composers from whom he has commissioned trumpet works are Jolivet, Blacher, and Tomasi. His trumpet playing has the expected virtues of brilliance, power, and endurance, and he combines his technical skills with a warm, even jolly, stage presence. He has a strong interest in the various varieties and makes of trumpets, has built a collection of nearly 100 instruments, and designed a four-valved piccolo trumpet, made by Selmer, which has proven to be exceptionally successful among top-rate players. He remained a consultant for Selmer until January, 1973. He succeeded his teacher Sabarich as a professor of trumpet at the Paris Conservatory in 1967. ~ Joseph Stevenson, All Music Guide
