André Jaunet (May 17, 1911 – December 13, 1988) was a French-Swiss

flutist The flute is a member of a family of musical instruments in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, producing sound with a vibrating column of air. Flutes produce sound when the player's air flows across an opening. In th ...

. In later years he worked as a teacher in

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, Switzerland, where he taught flautists Peter-Lukas Graf and Aurèle Nicolet, Conrad Klemm among others.

Biography

André Jaunet was born on May 17, 1911, in Corné, France. From 1924 to 1927, he studied with Etienne Moncelet in Angers. From 1927 to 1929, he completed his studies with Marcel Moyse in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. From 1929 to 1931 he studied at the

Paris Conservatory The Conservatoire de Paris (), or the Paris Conservatory, is a college of music and dance founded in 1795. Officially known as the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique et de Danse de Paris (; CNSMDP), it is situated in the avenue Jean Ja ...

under Philippe Gaubert. In 1937, he married Clotilde Faillettaz. They had two children: Philippe Jaunet (born 1938), and Yvonne Jaunet (born 1940). On December 13, 1988, André Jaunet died at the age of 77 in Zürich after a battle with liver cancer. His ashes are in his beloved native French village of Corné in Anjou's Loire Valley.

Career

After occupying the principal flute positions of the Opera de Lille (France), in the Stadtorchester Winterthur (Switzerland), and the Bern Symphony Orchestra (Switzerland), Jaunet moved to Zürich, Switzerland, where he was principal flutist in the Tonhalle Orchestra from 1938 to 1978. He taught at the Conservatory and Musikhochschule (now Zürcher Hochschule der Künste) from 1938 to 1981. In 1973 he accepted a year-long guest professorship at the

Hochschule für Musik Freiburg The Hochschule für Musik Freiburg ("University of Music Freiburg or Freiburg Conservatory of Music") is a public music academy subsidized by the State of Baden-Württemberg for academic research and artistic and pedagogical training in music. ...

(Germany). In 1977, he was a guest professor at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

(Canada) for one year. He participated as a juror in many competitions outside Switzerland. Jaunet held summer courses in Banff (Canada), Japan, Sweden, Holland and, near the end of his life (between 1982 and 1988), gave annual masterclasses in the Swiss cities of

Thun Thun () is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the administrative district of Thun (administrative district), Thun in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Canton of Bern, Bern in Switzerland. ...

and Obersaxen.

Teaching

André Jaunet was mostly remembered as a vivid, dedicated teacher. His pupils included Aurèle Nicolet, Peter-Lukas Graf, Robert Aitken, Jean-Claude Gérard and Emmanuel Pahud.

Solo work

During his life, besides occupying the principal flutist chair in the Tonhalle, he was active performing as a solo flutist with many orchestras. These included: the Zurich Chamber Orchestra (under the direction of Edmond de Stoutz), the Collegium Musicum Zürich (under conductor Paul Sacher), and the Festival Strings Lucerne (under conductor Rudolf Baumgartner).

Musical ensembles

For many years, Jaunet played with the Zürich Woodwind quintet, which included André Raoult on oboe, Rolf Kubli on clarinet, Rudolf Leuzinger on bassoon, and Werner Speth on horn. From 1947 to 1962, Jaunet was involved in baroque chamber music in the Zunfthaus zur Meise in Zürich, where he played with Hans Andreae (harpsichord), James Whitehead (cello), Claude Starck (cello), Karl Maria Schwamberger (viola da gamba), Hugues Cuenod (tenor), Hermann Leeb (lute, guitar), Heribert Lauer (violin) and others. Jaunet was also involved in performing modern works and analyzing Schoenberg's "Woodwind Quintet." In 1961, he performed Pierre Boulez's "Sonatine for flute and piano" with Maria Bergmann in Zürich's Tonhalle, in the presence of the composer.

Awards and prizes

In 1931, at the age of 20, he was awarded the Paris Conservatory's First Prize for flute. In 1939 he won the First Prize at the International Music Competition of Geneva. In 1966, the French government awarded Jaunet the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

Discography

Although many are out of stock, Jaunet recorded several records over his career. ''André Jaunet: The Art of the Great Flutist'' is a 3-CD set that was produced posthumously, with the help of his wife, Clotilde Faillettaz Jaunet, by producer Mr. Muramatsu and Jaunet's former students, Aurèle Nicolet, Peter-Lukas Graf, Guenter Rumpel, Kiyoshi Kasai, and musician Michel Kurz
Muramatsu catalogue
Jaunet, André. ''Wie Meister Ueben: André Jaunet (How Masters Practice)'', flute, Panton Zürich Editions 1966, 120 pages. Contains two LP records in which the flutist teaches a pupil and then plays the "Andante in C major of Mozart" (pupil: Sylvia Baumann). Score for flute and piano.