Graham George
Graham Elias George (11 April 1912 – 9 December 1993) was a Canadian composer, music theorist, organist, choir conductor, and music educator of English birth. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, his compositional output consists largely of choral works written in the 20th-century Anglican style. He also wrote three ballets, four operas, and some symphonic music. In 1938 he won the Jean Lallemand Prize for his Variations on an Original Theme. His archives are part of the collection at the Library and Archives Canada.[1]
Early life and education [edit]
Born in Norwich, he moved to Canada in 1928 at the age of 16. He studied the organ and music composition with Alfred Whitehead. He earned an associate diploma in 1934 and fellow diploma in 1936 from the Royal Canadian College of Organists. In 1935 he obtained an associate diploma from the Royal College of Organists. From the University of Toronto he earned a Bachelor of Music (1936) and a Doctor of Music (1939). He later studied music composition with Paul Hindemith at the Yale School of Music in 1952 and 1953 and conducting with Willem van Otterloo in Holland in 1956.[1]
Career [edit]
From 1932-1937 he worked in Montreal as an organist/choirmaster and teacher, and then worked in a similar capacity in Sherbrooke, Quebec from 1937 to 1941. In 1946 he joined the faculty of Queen's University where he taught for the next 31 years. He received a research grant from the university and an exchange grant from the Canada Council which supported him in writing his book, Tonality and Musical Structure, from 1970-1973. He is also the author of Tonality in Tristan and Parsifal and contributed articles to musical periodicals.[1]
In 1953 George established the Kingston Choral Society and in 1954 he founded the Kingston Symphony; serving as conductor of both ensembles through 1957. He served on the board of the Canadian Society for Traditional Music from its inception in 1956 and was later the organization's president from 1965 to 1968. He was active as an organist/choirmaster in Kingston and Gananoque from 1946 to 1975. He also served as the president of the Royal Canadian College of Organists from 1972–1974 and was secretary-general of the International Folk Music Council from 1969-1980.[1]
Upon George's retirement in 1977, Queen's University bestowed upon him the title of professor emeritus. The university later named their music library after him in 1983 and offers an annual scholarship in his name to a single composition student of merit. He died due to complications related to Alzheimer's disease in Kingston, Ontario in 1993 at the age of 81. His wife of many years, soprano Tjot George, had died two years previously.[1]
References [edit]
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