Haitian trumpeter André Déjean, konpa pioneer, dies at his home

André Déjean, a Haitian trumpeter, composer and arranger, died on Friday, September 11, 2026, according to Le Nouvelliste. A founding member of Les Frères Déjean, the family ensemble created in the late 1960s, Déjean became one of its central creative figures. The group grew into one of the largest orchestras in the history of konpa, and Déjean contributed the composition or arrangement of several classics of the Haitian repertoire, the outlet reported. His death, Le Nouvelliste wrote, deprives the country of one of the major architects of its music. The Prime Minister honored the memory of the trumpeter, according to the newspaper. Further details on the circumstances of his death and funeral arrangements were not immediately available. Le Nouvelliste is the primary source for the reported facts in this account.