Article

Simone Quesnel

Published Online June 17, 2007

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Simone Quesnel. Contralto, teacher, b Pointe-au-Chêne, Que, 19 Mar 1911, d Montreal 5 Dec 1987. She studied with Céline Marier and in 1931 gave a recital at the Delphic Study Club, which gave her a grant.

Quesnel, Simone

Simone Quesnel. Contralto, teacher, b Pointe-au-Chêne, Que, 19 Mar 1911, d Montreal 5 Dec 1987. She studied with Céline Marier and in 1931 gave a recital at the Delphic Study Club, which gave her a grant. Thus she was able to take courses in harmony and counterpoint with Claude Champagne and Georges-Émile Tanguay. Devoting herself at first to opera as a soprano, she performed with several troupes: she toured for four years with the Compagnie d'opéra franco-italienne, directed by H. Maurice Jacquet, and sang Micaëla and Frasquita in Carmen with the San Carlo Opera Company and Serpolette in Les Cloches de Corneville with the Société canadienne d'opérette.

Around 1942 Quesnel turned to popular ballads and embarked on a successful career in radio. She founded and was the director ca 1949-after 1956 of the Choeur des midinettes, composed of garment workers. Around 1956 she opened a private studio in Montreal and her pupils include Diane Dufresne and Pierre Lalonde.

Quesnel recorded art songs with Albert Viau on the Bluebird label in 1942 and the song 'Quand les hommes vivront d'amour' (Vedette 1001). She was described by Odette Oligny as a 'consummate musician' who sings with 'infinite sensitivity' (Montreal Le Samedi, 17 Aug 1957).