Jean Carignan


Jean Carignan, was a Canadian fiddler from Quebec.
Carignan was born in Lévis, Quebec, on December 7, 1916, later moving to Sherbrooke and then Trois-Rivières with his family; the family moved to Montreal when Carignan was ten years old. As a child, Carignan studied with noted Quebec fiddler Joseph Allard, as well as learning the music of the great Irish fiddlers Michael Coleman and James Morrison and the Scottish fiddler James Scott Skinner. In his mid-teens Carignan joined George Wade and his Cornhuskers. Carignan was a friend of famous violinist and conductor Yehudi Menuhin. In 1974, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada as "the greatest fiddler in North America". He died in Montreal on February 16, 1988, at the age of 71.
In 1976, The Folk Music Sourcebook wrote about Carignan : "Carignan's technique is amazing, but more so the joy and energy with which he applies it. There are few players in any music who reach his degree of virtuosity without sacrificing feeling or originality"—p. 84. As a fiddler, he was always aiming for the strictest authenticity in his executions, displaying an attitude of absolute rigor when playing his repertoire of 7,000 pieces learned from Coleman, Skinner, Allard, Wellie Ringuette and many others.

Selected discography

  • 1959: Ti-Jean... Le Violoneux
  • 1960: The Folk Fiddler Who Electrified the Newport Folk Festival
  • 1960: Old Time Fiddle Tunes played by Jean Carignan
  • 1961: Alan Mills and Jean Carignan: Songs, Fiddle Tunes and a Folk-Tale from Canada
  • 1973: Jean Carignan
  • 1975: French Canadian Fiddle Songs
  • 1976: Jean Carignan rend hommage à Joseph Allard
  • 1977: Jean Carignan Plays the Music of – Joue la Musique de Coleman, Morrison & Skinner
  • 1987: Gigue à Deux
  • 2006: ''Classic Canadian Songs from Smithsonian Folkways''

Selected filmography

Honours and awards