Mario Duschenes

Mario Duschenes, CM, LL.D. (27 October 1923 – 31 January 2009) was a Canadian flautist, recorder player, music educator and conductor.

Early life Mario Duschenes was born in Altona, near Hamburg, Germany in 1923, the son of Franz and Grete Duschenes. He studied the recorder, sight singing and the piano before the age of twelve. In 1935, he began studying the flute with his father and brothers. Escaping Germany just prior to World War II, and his work was also influenced by his marriage to a child psychologist, Ellyn Simons, whom he wed in 1951, and with whom he had five children. Between 1954 and 1970 he also taught at McGill University, and subsequently at the University of Montreal between 1970 and 1973. His gracious, avuncular contribution to the musical education of youth was much praised: the music critic for The Globe and Mail wrote that "For all the simplicity of Duschenes's language, he manages to achieve an intellectual level that patronises neither the children nor their parents," while that of the Montreal Gazette noted that Duschenes was "probably doing more for the image of young people's concerts than anyone else in Canada".

Duschenes also conducted regular orchestral concerts for the Montreal Symphony Orchestra (1973–85), the Orchestre de Chambre de Radio-Canada, and in 1985 was appointed the music director of the Newfoundland Symphony Orchestra, a position he held until 1992. He also appeared as guest conductor for other major Canadian orchestras, as well as the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra in 1987, 1989 and 1990.

Honours Duschenes received the Canadian Music Council Medal in 1978 and was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1985 for his work as an internationally known flautist, teacher and conductor. He was also awarded honorary doctorates from Concordia University (Montreal) and Memorial University of Newfoundland (St. John's).