Angèle Arsenault | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1943-10-01)October 1, 1943 Abrams Village, Prince Edward Island, Canada |
| Origin | Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada |
| Died | February 25, 2014(2014-02-25) (aged 70) Saint-Sauveur,Quebec, Canada |
| Occupation | Singer-songwriter |
Angèle Arsenault,OC OPEI (October 1, 1943 – February 25, 2014) was a Canadian-Acadian singer, songwriter and media host.
Arsenault was born to Acadian parents Arthur and Joséphine inAbrams Village, Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1943. She was the eighth child out of fourteen children. She grew up surrounded by music because this medium was very popular among her family. The family would gather for kitchen parties, an important aspect of Acadian culture, and each would play a different musical instrument, and would sing songs passed down from older generations. By the age of 14, she was playing the piano and the guitar and won a televised singing contest inCharlottetown.[1]
In 1965, she received herBA from theUniversité de Moncton followed by her MA fromUniversité Laval in 1968. She then taught for one year, before moving toMontreal, Quebec, where her singing/songwriting career started in earnest.[citation needed]
Arsenault had started to perform inMoncton in 1963.[2] She would play the guitar and piano and sing and collect traditional Acadian songs.[3] After 1966 she lived in various places in Quebec, and appeared on television and in radio. She then toured parts of Canada. However, it was not until 1973 that she began to write and sing her own songs (in English and in French). Among these wereÉvangéline, Acadian Queen andLe monde de par chez nous.[3]
ForTVOntario, she hosted several shows, among others was the educational programAvec Angèle. In 1974, the program won aGold Hugo Award at theChicago International Film Festival.[3] During the '70s, she releasedPremière and an English album entitledAngèle Arsenault. However, it was with the release of her 1977 albumLibre with which Arsenault garnered much success and fame.
Libre, which went triple platinum, contained songs that Arsenault is still remembered for today, such asMoi j'mange andDe temps en temps moi j'ai les bleus. In 1979, she received the prestigiousFelix Award for best-seller (Libre) in Quebec, and performed at a sold-out concert at thePlace des Arts.
In 1979, she recorded her fourth albumY'a une étoile pour vous and the following year she received much acclaim at theFestival de Spa in Belgium. She then returned to Canada to record her fifth album. She also kept up her radio and television career, as much in Quebec as in theMaritimes. Arsenault collaborated withSylvie Toupin to write a play entitledPour le meilleur et pour le pire, which deals with violence against women.
Following the 1970s, the singer had built up a sizable fan base and solidified her popularity, as much as a singer as an Acadian pioneer in modern music. In 1975, she published a collection of poems entitledPremière, released at the same time as her first album.
She appeared in several films for theNational Film Board of Canada includingLe temps de l'avant (1975). She also founded theSociété de production et de programmation de spectacles with the impresarioLise Aubut and the singersEdith Butler andJacqueline Lemay.
In 1994, she returned to music with the release of the albumTransparente,[4] which continued to show the world the artist's musical talents. This album featured the well-known songsGrand-Pré andPapa Arthur. She also continued to do tours in Quebec, as well as throughout Canada.
In 1996, she returned to Prince Edward Island to be closer to her family.
In 1997, she received theOrdre de la Pléiade de l'Association des parlementaires de langue française, recognizing her work in the promotion of the French language and culture.[3]
She is also an honorary member of theAssociation canadienne des éducateurs de langue française, for which she sang and gave workshops.[3]
She continued to write new songs and appeared at many festivals worldwide.
In 1999, she received an honorary doctorate from theUniversity of Prince Edward Island. She also released that year an album of twelve songs entitledAmour, meant specifically for children (Arsenault herself had no children of her own).
In 2000, she received the title ofWoman of the Year fromZonta International.[3]
Her last known television work was withPassepArts, a television show for which she was its correspondent in Charlottetown and her last known place of residence wasSummerside, Prince Edward Island.
On February 23, 2003, Arsenault received theOrder of Canada.[3]
Arsenault died on February 25, 2014, in Saint-Sauveur, Quebec, after a battle with cancer.[5] She was 70.
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