Browse "Singers & Songwriters"

Adrianne Pieczonka. Soprano, b Poughkeepsie, NY, 2 Mar 1963; B MUS (Western Ontario) 1985, M MUS (Toronto) 1988. Adrianne Pieczonka and her family moved to Burlington, Ont., when she was 2 years old. She was encouraged to take piano lessons at an early age.

Adrienne Labelle. Soprano, teacher, b Montreal, fl 1904-10. She studied voice with her father, Charles, and Céline Marier and piano with Alexis Contant and Émery Lavigne. She completed her voice studies in 1903 with Auguste-Jean Dubulle in Paris.

Adrienne ('Yohadio') Roy-Vilandré (b Roy, m Vilandré). Soprano, folklorist, b Lévis, near Quebec City, Que, 13 Feb 1893, d Montreal 23 Oct 1978. After taking voice lessons in Quebec City with Isa Jeynevald-Mercier, Victor Occelier, and Berthe Roy she made her debut at the Club musical de Québec.

AGLAÉ (b Jocelyne Deslongchamps). Singer, actress, b L'Épiphanie, near Montreal, 13 May 1933, d Montreal 19 Apr 1984. She began her career at 16 in Montreal nightclubs (eg, the Au Faisan doré) under the name Josette France.

Al-Hajj Sayyd Abdul Al-Khabyyr (né Russell Linwood Thomas), soprano, alto and tenor saxophonist, clarinetist, flutist, composer (born 22 March 1935 in New York, New York; died 15 February 2017 in Montréal, QC).

Alain Lamontagne. Harmonica player, composer, singer, storyteller, actor, b Verdun (Montreal) 14 Jul 1952. He began playing harmonica in his teens.

Alan (Paul) Crofoot. Tenor, actor, b Toronto 2 Jun 1929, d Dayton, Ohio, 5 Mar 1979; MA psychology (Toronto) 1953.

Albert Miller (Alan Mills), CM, opera singer, folksinger, actor, writer (born 7 September 1912, possibly 1913, in Lachine, QC; died 14 June 1977 in Montréal, QC).

Alanis Nadine Morissette, singer, songwriter, producer, actor, activist (born 1 June 1974 in Ottawa, ON). Alanis Morissette is one of Canada’s most recognized and internationally acclaimed singer-songwriters. She established herself as a Juno-winning teen pop star in Canada before adopting an edgy alternative rock sound. She exploded onto the world stage with her record-breaking international debut, Jagged Little Pill (1995). It sold more than 16 million copies in the United States and 33 million worldwide. It is the highest-selling debut album by a female artist in the US and the best-selling debut album ever worldwide. It is also the best-selling album of the 1990s and the first album by a Canadian artist to sell more than two million copies in Canada. Described by Rolling Stone magazine as the “undisputed queen of alt-rock angst,” Morissette has won 13 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards. She has sold 60 million albums worldwide, including Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998), Under Rug Swept (2002) and Flavors of Entanglement (2008). Also an actor and activist, she is a member of the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Well, if you're Alanis Morissette, that's exactly what you do. The Canadian pop star had been organizing a visit to Mother Teresa's hospital in India, but she still wonders what prompted her to dial Calcutta on the night of Sept. 4, 1997.

TEN YEARS AGO, Alanis MORISSETTE arrived on the music scene (for the second time) with serious rocker hair, a banshee voice and bitter lyrics about oral sex. This year, that anniversary can be celebrated by anyone waiting in line to buy a Starbucks biscotti and cappuccino.

Alannah Myles (born Byles), singer, songwriter (born 25 December 1958 in Toronto, Ontario). Alannah Myles cut an aggressive and confident, leather-clad figure in Canadian pop.

Albert Clerk-Jeannotte. Tenor, teacher, administrator, b St-Hilaire (now Mont-St-Hilaire), near Montreal, 15 Jan 1881, d New York 21 Jul 1945. He began music study with his uncle, Alexandre-M. Clerk, and with Achille Fortier.

Albert (Joseph) Cornellier. Baritone, teacher, born St-Rémi-de-Napierville, near Montreal, 28 Mar 1900, died 2000; premier prix, light opera, (Paris Cons).

Albert Greer. Tenor, choir conductor, teacher, b Toronto 23 Feb 1937; BA (Toronto) 1960, ARCT Gold Medal 1964. He studied with Aksel Schiøtz at the University of Toronto and was a member 1956-60 and 1964-7 of the Festival Singers.

Roberval, Albert. Conductor, stage director, tenor, teacher, actor, b Florence 23 Oct 1869, naturalized Canadian 1923, d Montreal 4 Oct 1941.

Albert Viau. Baritone, folksinger, teacher, composer, b Montreal 6 Nov 1910, d 27 Jun 2001; B MUS (Montreal) 1966, teaching certificate (Quebec Ministry of Education) 1966. He studied piano with Arthur Caron, but at 17 decided to study voice.

Albertine (Rosalie Odile) Morin-Labrecque (b Labrecque, m Morin, also known as Labrecque-Morin). Pianist, soprano, educator, composer, b Montreal 8 Jun 1886 or 1890, d there 22 or 25 Sep 1957; honorary D MUS (Montreal) 1935.

Alexander Reid Gray, operatic baritone, teacher, administrator (born 31 March 1929 in Lachine, QC; died 6 October 1998 in Victoria, BC).

Alfred Bryan. Songwriter, lyricist, b Brantford, Ont, 15 Sep 1871, d Gladstone, NJ, 1 Apr 1958. Raised in Brantford and from 1886 in London, Ont, Alfred Bryan attended the Collegiate Institute before moving to Chicago, working as a newspaper reporter.