John Beckwith (composer)
John Beckwith, CM ( born March 9, 1927 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a Canadian composer, pianist and music journalist.
Life
His ancestors settled in 1760 in Nova Scotia. Beckwith's parents encouraged him musically. He sang in the church choir and learned piano at six Ogreta McNeill. From 1945 he studied with the aid of a scholarship in piano with Alberto Guerrero at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. There he was a member of the circle of artists around James Reaney. As winners of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association, he studied from 1950 to 1951 composition with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. In addition, included in Canada Wadada Leo Smith and John Weinzweig his teachers.
Beckwith has worked as a reviewer for The Globe and Mail and as a music critic for the Toronto Star. He was also a spokesperson for the Canadian program BROADCASTIN Corporation. He wrote for radio Music in Our Time, The World of Music and The Music of Chopin as well as documentation to Hindemith, Boulez, Bartók and Berlioz. In addition, he was editor of the Canadian Music Journal.
From 1952 he taught at the University of Toronto. From 1970 to 1977 he was Dean of the Faculty of Music. His students include William Aide, Robert Aitken, Brian Cherney, Gustav Ciamaga, Omar Daniel, Beverley Diamond, Ben McPeek, John Fodi, Edward Laufer, Bruce Mather, Clifford Ford, Clark Ross, Timothy Sullivan, James Rolfe and Chan Wing -wah. In 1984 he founded the Institute for Canadian Music. In 1992 he was a visiting professor in Australia and 1997 at the University of Alberta. 1996 he was a guest composer at the Musicarama in Hong Kong.
From 1973 to 1974 he was Chairman of the Council of Ontario Universities, as well as, inter alia, Board member of the Ten Centuries Concerts, the Canadian Music Centre, the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, the Music Promotion Foundation, the New Music Concerts, PRO Canada and the Sir Ernest MacMillan Memorial Foundation. In the 50s and 60s, he was secretary of the Canadian League of Composers.
Beckwith in 1981 was a co-founder of the Canadian Musical Heritage Society and designed Music at Sharon with. In 1984, he presented a musical program for the 150th anniversary of the city of Toronto together. There were the Elmer Iseler Singers, Rosemarie Landry, Mark DuBois, James Campbell, Nelson wages and Lawrence Cherney.
As a composer, he received orders known institutions (including the National Ballet of Canada, Victoria Symphony Orchestra, Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra ).
Works
He wrote more than 130 compositions.
Awards
Beckwith is the recipient of the Canadian Music Council Medal ( 1972). In 1987 he received the Order of Canada. In addition, he was honored by McGill University, Mount Allison University, Queen's University, the University of Victoria and the University of Guelph with honorary doctorates. The Canadian Conference of the Arts presented him with an honorary diploma in 1996. He became an honorary member of the Canadian University Music Society in 1999.