Lorraine Desmarais, born on August 15, 1956, in Montreal, is a Quebec jazz pianist and composer. She began playing piano as a child and pursued formal music studies at Université de Sherbrooke and McGill University. Her breakthrough came in 1984 when she won the Yamaha Jazz Piano Competition at the Montreal International Jazz Festival. Desmarais released her debut album, Trio Lorraine Desmarais, in 1985, which won the Félix Award for Best Jazz Album. She performed extensively across Asia, Europe, and North America throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1994, her album Vision won a SOCAN Award, and she made her debut at New York's The Blue Note club. Desmarais has also contributed to film and television scores and hosted jazz programs on Radio Canada. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2012 and received the Opus Prize for Concert of the Year in 2016.
