René Lussier (born April 15, 1957) is a musician based in the province of Québec, Canada. He is a composer, guitarist, bass guitarist, percussionist, bass clarinetist and singer. Lussier has collaborated with such figures as Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, Jean Derome and Robert Marcel Lepage. His work, which combines elements from all major genres, is often referred to within the discourse of New Music, or Musiques Actuelles, in French.
Born in Montreal, Lussier began his musical career in 1973 in Chambly as part of the progressive rock group Arpège. From 1976 to 1980, he was a member of the Montreal folk-progressive group Conventum, led by André Duchesne. Lussier was also a member of the groups Quatour de l'Enmieux and les Reins, Nébu and La G.U.M in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
He began doing soundtrack work in 1979, via a collaboration with Duchesne on the music for a short film called Tanobe. Lussier has written or co-written the scores to more than thirty-five films, including Chronique d'un génocide annoncé, a documentary about the Rwandan Genocide by Danièle Lacourse et Yvan Patry.
Lussier played guitar for the popular singer Pauline Julien between 1982 and 1984, though also working on music of a more esoteric nature, blurring distinctions between progressive rock, jazz and improvisation, modern composition and circus music. His first solo album, Fin du travail (version I), was released in 1983 and consolidated his reputation as a quirky, humorous and talented guitarist-composer. He has collaborated extensively with Derome and Lepage since this time, and has recorded as a member of the Fred Frith Guitar Quartet.
