Augustin 'Gus' Duques was born in Toulouse, France on May 3, 1899 and died in New York in 1972. He won first prizes at the Paris Conservatory in 1917 in Clarinet and in Solfege. He played the world premieres of the Trio version of Stravinsky's 'L'Histoire du Soldat' and the Poulenc Duo, He was brought to New York by Walter Damrosch to play Principal Clarinet with the New York Symphony. He began teaching at the Institute of Musical Art in 1923, before it merged with the Juilliard Graduate School to become the Juilliard School of Music. His playing career was illustrious. In addition to the New York Symphony, he played in theaters and was on the staff of NBC from 1931 and principal clarinetist of the NBC Symphony under Toscanini from 1937 to 1949, when he left to join the WOR Symphony under Alfred Wallenstein.  He also played first clarinet on one of the best recordings ever made of the two Mozart Serenades for 8 winds, with Arthur Winograd conducting "The Arthur Winograd Wind Ensemble". ( thanks to Mr Steve Hartman and Ken Shaw for the informations).