Henri Delcellier

Delcellier, Henri

(Joseph) Henri (Jean) Delcellier. Clarinetist, violinist, conductor, b Béziers, France, 21 Sep 1872, d Montreal 27 Dec 1967. He began clarinet lessons with his father, Joseph Delcellier, and studied violin and theory in Paris at the École Niedermeyer, from which he graduated with a diploma. Alexandre Luigini and Léon Jehin taught him orchestral conducting. He was concertmaster at the Opéra de Paris and a member of other Parisian orchestras including that of Hasselmans and also conducted at the Casino de Paris. In 1911 he moved to Canada to assume direction of the choirs of the Montreal Opera Company. After service in World War I he returned to Montreal in 1917. He staged dramatic works and conducted at the Imperial Theatre and the Monument national (Faust and Mignon, presented at the latter theatre by the Canadian Opera Association in 1919). He was an instrumentalist and conductor at radio station CKAC and on the CBC, and he also served 1934-5 as personnel manager and 1935-52 as a clarinetist with the orchestra of the CSM, and 1935-52 as vice-president of the Montreal Musicians' Guild. He composed some works (unpublished) for orchestra and concert band.

See also Joseph Delcellier (his brother), Henri-Aimé Delcelliers (his son), and Marthe Delcelliers (his daughter).