About
Pierre’s musical endeavor is fast-approaching five complete decades, having started in 1965 when he
played first clarinet for his Montreal school band. Early steps on the journey included private tuition with
various teachers and a jazz performance major at McGill University.
His television appearances began in 1975, supporting local Canadian artists on the most popular music
shows of the era. Around this time, he also became a key member of the ''Bouquet de sons'' classical
baroque trio, playing in more than 100 concerts in two years. In the early 1980s, his band Agharta
recorded their first album and headlined the first Montreal International Jazz festival. The success of
Agharta brought Pierre to the attention of master percussionist Michel Séguin (Van Morisson, Don
Alias), and the two formed a new group, Jouga.
In the early 1990s, Pierre co-founded the world-beats group Anoosh, featuring the acclaimed Armenian
singer / percussionist Raffi Niziblian. Anoosh not only won the prized ‘Rythmes Du Monde’ contest in
Montreal, but also toured extensively through Europe, appearing at the Peter Gabriel / Thomas Brooman-
founded ‘Womad’ festival. In 1992, Anoosh received a Juno nomination - the Canadian equivalent of the
Grammy Awards.
During this period, Pierre also free-lanced with many jazz, blues, and R&B cover bands, before teaming
up with percussionist-drummer Jean-François Fabiano (Gato Barbieri, Jean-Luc Ponty) to form the World Unit. Comprised of the finest world-beats and jazz musicians in Montréal, the World Unit made their
debut television appearance on ARTV’s 'New World Symphony'’.
As the 21st century dawned, Pierre branched out into new areas, culminating with his 2007 production
‘Storias’, a modern acid-jazz oriented album. Since 2018 He has been composing music for sync
licensing in TV, Radio, Streaming and Jingles. He has about 100 songs playing in different networks all
around the world.. He is also preparing a album of original music for April 2023.
Pierre is now established in Hong Kong. He is also helping to build the next generation of performance
artists, regularly taking time out to teach young, local musicians.
Prizes and Awards:
1990 Festival ''Rythmes du Monde'' first prize Anoosh group
1992 Juno award nomination: Anoosh Hai music
2013 Finalist Taichung Saxophone competition.
2020 Finalist Unsigned Only writing competition Jazz category
