Lorraine Desmarais is a French-Canadian jazz pianist and composer. Born in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, she holds a Masters Degree in Classical Piano, and was influenced by Chick Corea

Chick Corea

Armando Anthony "Chick" Corea is an American jazz pianist, keyboardist, and composer.Many of his compositions are considered jazz standards. As a member of Miles Davis' band in the 1960s, he participated in the birth of the electric jazz fusion movement. In the 1970s he formed Return to Forever...

 and Oscar Peterson

Oscar Peterson

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson was a Canadian jazz pianist and composer. He was called the "Maharaja of the keyboard" by Duke Ellington, "O.P." by his friends. He released over 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, and received other numerous awards and honours over the course of his career...

.

Desmarais has recorded seven albums as a solo performer and musical director, including several with well-known artists such as Michel Cusson and Michel Donato (Vision), Tiger Okoshi

Tiger Okoshi

Toru "Tiger" Okoshi is an American jazz fusion trumpeter. He was born in the Year of the Tiger on March 21 1950, just outside of Osaka , Japan. As a child he was, in fact, devoted to painting as he loves today...

 (Lorraine Desmarais), Don Alias

Don Alias

Charles 'Don' Alias was an American jazz percussionist.Alias was best known for playing congas and other hand drums...

 (Andiamo), André Moisan, Jean Gaudreault and Ted Baskin from the Montreal Symphony Orchestra

Montreal Symphony Orchestra

Orchestre symphonique de Montréal is a symphony orchestra based in Montréal, Québec, Canada, with Montréal's Place des Arts as its home.-History:...

 and Michel Bettez from the Orchestre Métropolitain (Bleu Silence), in addition to her long-standing team of Frédéric Alarie (double bass

Double bass

The double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, standup bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2...

) and Camil Bélisle (drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

).

She has been teaching in colleges and universities since 1985, and is a jazz piano

Jazz piano

Jazz piano is a collective term for the techniques pianists use when playing jazz. The piano has been an integral part of the jazz idiom since its inception, in both solo and ensemble settings. Its role is multifaceted due largely to the instrument's combined melodic and harmonic capabilities...

 professor

Professor

A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...

 at the Cégep Saint-Laurent in Montreal.