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Biography
Maurice André was born on May 21,
1933 in Alès, near Nimes, France.
His father, also named Maurice, was
a trumpet-playing coal miner, and
that was what young Maurice became
as well: he learned to play trumpet
from his father, and became an
apprentice coal miner at the age of
14, remaining in that job until he
was 18. (He reports that his father
played the instrument with great
endurance.) Maurice's brother
Raymond is also a trumpeter, and has
appeared in concert with Maurice.
Maurice was accepted into the Paris
Conservatory in 1951. He studied
with Sabarich and Barthélémy. After
both his first and second years he
won first prize in cornet and in
trumpet. He joined the Lamoureux
Orchestra (1953 - 1960), the French
Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (1953 -
1962) and the orchestra of the
Opéra-Comique (1962 - 1967). He also
played in jazz groups. In 1955 he
won first prize in an international
competition in Geneva. A similar and
even more brilliant victory in the
International Music Competition of
the German Radio, in Munich in 1963,
launched his unprecedented solo
trumpet career.
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