George Amédée Tremblay (14 January 1911 – 14 July 1982) was a Canadian (and later, naturalized US citizen) pianist, composer, and author who was active in the United States. Although his works display a broad range of stylistic influences, he is primarily associated with the twelve-tone technique. He is the author of the musical treatise The Definitive Cycle of the Twelve Tone Row. Tremblay was also noted for his unique capacity to extemporize on the piano and frequently performed as an improviser.
Born in Ottawa, Tremblay was the son of composer and organist Amédée Tremblay and Rosa Martel Tremblay. As the son of an active composer and performer, young George was exposed to not only the classics, but to more contemporary composers; his father, Amédée, was an early champion of Cesar Franck, Max Reger, and Claude Debussy for Canadian audiences. In addition to receiving musical instruction from his father, Tremblay quickly learned how to extemporize at the keyboard in the style of these composers. At the age of eight Tremblay gave his first public performance, a recital for Canada’s prime minister, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, in which his father performed first on pipe organ and then George performed a few small pieces and improvisations. Tremblay would continue to develop as a piano improviser for the rest of his life.
In 1920 the Tremblay family moved to Salt Lake City, Utah, when Amédée was appointed organist at the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Two years later the family would briefly live in San Diego where George, only twelve years old, worked as organist for a small Catholic church. The family moved one last time in 1925 to Los Angeles, California, where Amédée became the organist and choir director at St. Vincent de Paul Church.