Marie-Anne Asselin (5 September 1888 – 1971) was a

French Canadian French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...

and voice teacher. She came from a musical family, being the sister of Pierre-Aurèle Asselin.

Life

Asselin was born in the town of Sainte-Famille on l'

Île d'Orléans Île d'Orléans (; en, Island of Orleans) is an island located in the Saint Lawrence River about east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

Around 1900, she moved with her family to

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, where she studied music with Miss Lemire and Béatrice Lapalme. Asselin made her singing debut on 25 April 1919 in the role of Jeanne in

La Basoche ''La Basoche'' is an opéra comique in three acts, with music by André Messager and words by Albert Carré. The opera is set in Paris in 1514 and depicts the complications that arise when the elected "king" of the student guild, the Basoche, is ...

André Messager André Charles Prosper Messager (; 30 December 1853 – 24 February 1929) was a French composer, organist, pianist and conductor. His compositions include eight ballets and thirty opéra comique, opéras comiques, opérettes and other stage wo ...

, which was performed in the Théâtre Français in Montreal. In 1920, Asselin opened a vocal studio on

Saint-Denis Street Saint Denis Street (officially in french: Rue Saint-Denis) is a major north–south thoroughfare in Montreal, Quebec. It extends from the Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel on Saint Paul Street in Old Montreal to the bank of the Rivière des Pra ...

in Montreal. That year she performed many concerts, featuring performances with Émile Gour, Germain Lefevbre, Hercule Lavoie and Blanche Gonthier. A series of radio performances with José Delaquerrière,

Jeanne Maubourg Jeanne Maubourg (November 10, 1873 – 9 May 1953) was a Belgian opera singer. She sang with the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 1909 to 1914, taught voice in Montreal, and was heard in Canadian radio dramas in the 1930s and 1940s. Early l ...

, Blanche Archambault, Germaine Lebel, André Durieux and Maurice Jacquet broadcast on

CKAC CKAC is a French-language radio station located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Owned by Cogeco, the station operates as a commercial traffic information service branded as ''Radio Circulation 730''. Its studios are located at Place Bonaventure in ...

were also heard in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

, and as a result the group was invited to perform a concert broadcast on a new station in

Springfield, Illinois Springfield is the capital of the U.S. state of Illinois and the county seat and largest city of Sangamon County. The city's population was 114,394 at the 2020 census, which makes it the state's seventh most-populous city, the second largest o ...

. She remained a vocal teacher in Montreal for her life, moving studios to Rue Saint Hubert in the 1930s and Saint-Joseph Boulevard East in the 1950s. She died in Montreal in 1971.

Recordings

Asselin made a single recording in her lifetime. Her one 78 RPM record contained the songs Au clavecin and Tes yeux. It was released by the Berliner Gram-o-phone.

References

;Citations

External links

Recordings by Marie-Anne Asselin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Asselin, Marie-Anne 1888 births 1971 deaths Date of death missing People from Capitale-Nationale French Quebecers Canadian mezzo-sopranos Operatic mezzo-sopranos Singers from Quebec 20th-century Canadian women opera singers