Angèle Arsenault

Angèle Arsenault, (October 1, 1943 – February 25, 2014) was a Canadian-Acadian singer, songwriter and media host.

Early life Arsenault was born to Acadian parents Arthur and Joséphine in Abrams 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 in Charlottetown.

In 1965, she received her BA from the Université de Moncton followed by her MA from Université Laval in 1968. She then taught for one year, before moving to Montreal, Quebec, where her singing/songwriting career started in earnest.

Career Arsenault had started to perform in Moncton in 1963. She would play the guitar and piano and sing and collect traditional Acadian songs. 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 were Évangéline, Acadian Queen and Le monde de par chez nous. which continued to show the world the artist's musical talents. This album featured the well-known songs Grand-Pré and Papa 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 the Ordre de la Pléiade de l'Association des parlementaires de langue française, recognizing her work in the promotion of the French language and culture. She was 70.

Discography Première (1975) Angèle Arsenault (1976) Libre (1977) C'est la récréation (1977) (with Édith Butler and Jacqueline Lemay) Y'a une étoile pour vous (1979) Chanter dans le soleil (1980) Paniquez pas pour rien (1982) Bonjour Madame Bolduc (1993) Transparente (1994) Noël c'est l'amour (1995) J'ai vécu bien des années (1995) Amour (1999) Des étoiles pour vous (2010) De souvenirs et d'amitié (2013) Vivre! (2014)