André Thibault

Reconnu en tant que pionnier de la musique du monde au Canada, André Thibault est un musicien surprenant et polyvalent. Montréalais d'origine, il a tôt fait de s'intéresser à tous les types de musiques et s'est spécialisé dans la maîtrise des instruments inusités en Amérique du Nord.

Aujourd'hui, il joue aussi bien de la flûte que des percussions, de la guitare que des maracas, du bouzouki que du oud. Il connaît aussi parfaitement les techniques du flamenco, du jazz, du blues et de la guitare classique. En tant qu'instrumentiste d'envergure internationale, il explore avec aisance les rythmes brésiliens ou africains, les musiques de Chine et du Cuba, les sons arabes ou celtiques ainsi que les compositions modernes et traditionnelles.

Son talent lui a permis d'accompagner de grands musiciens à travers le monde et d'être plus particulièrement sollicité par le milieu artistique de la Côté Ouest où il a enregistré pour des groupes très variés. Il a collaboré, entre autres, aux projets de Cordes en Folie, ASZA, Jou Tou et Silk Road Music.

Fondateur avec Qui Xia He de Silk Road, une des rares troupes professionnelles de musique chinoise, André Thibault tourne avec sa compagne artistique depuis une quinzaine d'années. Il enrichit la musique du Silk Road Duo de son art du jeu distinct qui tisse un lien entre ses origines, ses intérêts musicaux et la richesse du folklore traditionnel chinois.

Revue de presse

ImaginaAsian Concert 2006
Silk Road Music with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Pierre Simard, Conductor

Review by Kenneth Delong for the Calgary Herald

Each year, as part of Asian heritage month, the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra puts on a concert devoted to the musical traditions of the far east.

This year's event, similar in general outline to previous concerts, nevertheless contained some interesting new ele-ments that made it especially satisfying for the listener. Notable was the guest appearance of Silk Road Music, a group of six musicians, four of Asian origin and two from the West. Their style of music and their way of presenta-tion is a fascinating mixture of western and oriental cul-tures, the songs presented in a multilingual fashion, and the instrumental element moving seamlessly among musi-cal traditions ranging from China to Celtic. Central to the spirit of the group is Qiu Xia He, a spirited young lady who is a superb virtuoso on the pipa, a type of Chinese guitar or lute.

Whether the music is soulful or playfully rhythmic, Qiu Xia He was able to plumb the musical center of every piece she played,a remarkable show of innate talent and technical expertise.

Her western male alter ego, André Thibault, was also impressive for his expressive playing and general high spir-its on stage.

The group performed several pieces by it self, ranging from Mongolian and Chinese folk melodies to faux Celtic music, performed surprisingly idiomatically on Chinese instruments.

The remainder of the program included works performed by the CPO under the able direction of Piere Simard, who was also the arranger of three of the items, including a piece by Gustav Holst and composers from Vietnam and Korea.

Of greater musical interest were the works actually com-posed for a symphony orchestra by composers whose cultural roots are in the far east, but whose musical train-ing is western. This included a symphony movement on Taiwanese melodies by Maon Shuen Chen and the fi nal work by Jin Zhang, a conductor/composer working in the Vancouver area. This last was a clever, attractive work enti-tled Spring in the Snow Mountains, which featured some splashy playing by the Silk Road Music.

Filling out the program was an appearance of the Mount Royal College Conservatory Trio, sporting two members of Asian background who play Western music in a completely idiomatic way.

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