André Isoir died July 20, on his birthday. Born July 20, 1935, in Saint-Dizier, France, he studied organ and piano at the École César-Franck. He then studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Rolande Falcinelli (organ), winning first prizes in organ and improvisation in 1960.
Among various competition honors were St. Albans (1965) and three successive Haarlem competitions. Isoir served as titular organist at St-Médard, St-Séverin, and the Abbey of St-Germain-des-Près, all in Paris. He taught organ at the Conservatoire d’Orsay from 1974 until 1983, when he moved to the Conservatoire National de Region de Boulogne-Billancourt, where he taught organ until 1994. With sixty recordings in his discography, he won the Grand Prix du Disque eight times between 1972 and 1991. Among his many awards was the Chevalier des Arts et Lettres.
(photo credit: Claude Truong Ngoc)
