Le Saunier, Jenny

Le Saunier, Jenny

Jenny (Marie Chantille Augustine) Lerouge Le Saunier, also known as Madame Le Saunier, was born in Brussels, Belgium on August 25, 1886. She studied music under such well-known teachers as Isidore Philipp at the Paris Conservatory, and with Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms in Berlin and began to tour and perform concerts in Europe. Le Saunier came to Canada at the beginning of 20th century, when her father was transferred to Ottawa, Ontario by the French government. She began touring once again and performed in front of the Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Governor-General Earl Grey. Towards the end of 1907 she moved to Red Deer, Alberta, where she married Charles Le Saunier in 1909 and started teaching piano. Ernest MacMillan convinced her to move to Edmonton, Alberta where she opened a studio in 1922 and remained until her death. Many of her students won international acclaim, such as Donna Frazer and Geraldine Mason. Le Saunier was decorated as an Officier de L'Ordre des Palmes Académiques in 1952 by the French ambassador to Canada and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Alberta in 1966, and a citation by the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers in 1967. She died in 1971, survived by a son, Michael Le Saunier, a brother, Camille Le Rouge, and a granddaughter, Suzanne M. Le Saunier.

Provincial Archives of Alberta