A History in the Key of Bolduc
With the next Bolduc generation, Christian and Catherine, ready to take over the reins after being educated at the finest German and American institutions, the founders of Pianos André Bolduc foresee a bright future. The company has become Quebec’s leading centre for piano expertise and fine piano sales.
It all began in 1978 in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce, Canada, when André Bolduc decided to restore an old piano belonging to his wife. The project fascinated him so much that he decided to make pianos a career. After training in the United States, he became a member of the Piano Technicians Guild, an international association of piano tuners and technicians. He then furthered his training through professional internships in the U.S. and Germany.
In 1988, he set up his own factory and hired two employees. The following year, he began selling new and used pianos. Two years later, he left his job as a police officer for good to devote himself to pianos. Until 1993, Pianos André Bolduc specialized in restoration. The quality of André’s work quickly got noticed in the U.S. and Europe, where he began receiving regular invitations to appear as a speaker or consultant. His growing knowledge then led him to the next step. In all those years spent studying pianos and seeking the best sound, he had often been dissatisfied with certain components. A few well-known piano manufacturers authorized him to experiment with replacements for their instruments’ soundboards and pinblocks. The results were impressive.
Thus were created the BolducBlock pinblock and BOLDUC white spruce soundboards. Canadian and Quebec white spruce have excellent, even outstanding sound-producing properties. André Bolduc came to be known worldwide as an expert on wood.
Pianos André Bolduc now employs a large staff at its factory and two retail stores, the original location in Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce and a new store in Montreal. This Quebec company is now known as a fine piano retailer and manufacturer of white spruce soundboards and Canadian maple pinblocks, without ever abandoning its initial vocation as a restorer. Among its clientele are such prestigious names as FAZIOLI of Italy, SAUTER of Germany, BALDWIN and MASON & HAMLIN of the United States, as well as PRAMBERGER and HEINTZMAN. Online purchasing makes it possible to work both with small restoration businesses and major North American, European, and Asian piano manufacturers and countries as far away as Australia, Saudi Arabia, Japan, India, and Sweden.
Thanks to the involvement of Michelle Lord, André’s business partner and wife, the company has also been actively involved in the cultural sector, with the creation of Arquemuse Music School in 1990 and more recently Centre de la Beauce Music School, both of which provide piano, violin, guitar, and singing lessons. In fall 2007, through the generous collaboration of the Saint-Joseph-de-Beauce parish council, the Concerts Arquemuse a recital series was launched featuring top-level artists performing in the chapel of the parish church.
The Gazette, August 1993
Good wood, Beauce's white spruce steers entrepreneur to grand-piano parts 
