Harold Town
Harold Barling Town, OC, artist (born 13 June 1924 in Toronto, ON; died 27 December 1990 near Peterborough, ON).
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Create AccountHarold Barling Town, OC, artist (born 13 June 1924 in Toronto, ON; died 27 December 1990 near Peterborough, ON).
Lyric Arts Trio. Formed in 1964 by the soprano Mary Morrison, the flutist Robert Aitken, and Aitken's wife, the pianist Marion Ross.
Alfred Henrik Garson, violinist, teacher, composer, author (born 22 October 1924 in Berthier-en-Haut (now Berthierville), QC; died 23 May 2022 in Montreal, QC). Violin teacher Alfred Garson was one of Canada’s leading advocates of the Suzuki method. He studied with Shinichi Suzuki at the Eastman School of Music and was named director of the Suzuki program at McGill University in 1970. He is the author of The Suzuki Teaching Method and wrote widely on the subject.
Deborah Cox, singer, songwriter, actor (born 13 July 1974 in Toronto, ON). One of Canada’s top R&B artists, Deborah Cox is known for her powerful, soulful voice and sultry ballads. “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” from her second album, One Wish (1998), set a record as the longest-running No. 1 R&B single in the US, staying atop the Billboard R&B Singles chart for 14 weeks. She has had six top 20 Billboard R&B singles and 13 No. 1 hits on Billboard’s Dance Club Songs chart. She has received multiple Juno Awards and Grammy Award nominations and has appeared as an actor in film and television and on Broadway. In 2022, she became the first Black woman and only the second Black Canadian (after Oscar Peterson) to be inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. She was also inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.
Walter Seymour Allward, sculptor (born 18 November 1876 in Toronto; died 24 April 1955 in Toronto). Walter Allward cemented his reputation as one of Canada’s greatest monumental sculptors with the mammoth Canadian National Vimy Memorial in Vimy, France (1922–36), which commemorated the important Battle of Vimy Ridge (April 1917) and the more than 11,000 Canadians listed as missing in action during the First World War.
Laurent-Olivier David, lawyer, journalist, newspaper owner, writer, politician (born 24 March 1840 in Sault-au-Récollet (Montréal), QC; died 24 August 1926 in Outremont, QC). David was responsible for founding the Monument-National and was the author of a number of biographies of famous Canadians.
This article was originally published in Maclean’s magazine on October 4, 2004. Partner content is not updated.
David Suzuki was there to explain to Canadians the grand ambitions of the early space program and our Anik satellites.Paul Edward Haggis, writer, director, producer (born 10 Mar 1953 in London, Ontario). Within Canada, Paul Haggis may be best known as the creator of the popular TV series Due South, which earned him six Gemini Awards including two for Best Dramatic Series. Internationally, he is renowned for a number of film achievements. He made history in 2006 as the first screenwriter of back-to-back Best Picture Oscar winners — Million Dollar Baby (2004) and Crash (2005). He also won Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay Oscars for the latter and helped rejuvenate the James Bond franchise with his screenplays for Casino Royale (2006) and Quantum of Solace (2008). More recently, his reputation has been marred by four allegations of sexual assault: in January 2018, he began defending himself in a civil suit against those allegations.
Portia May White, contralto, teacher (born 24 June 1911 in Truro, NS; died 13 February 1968 in Toronto, ON). Portia White was the first Black Canadian concert singer to win international acclaim. She was considered one of the best classical singers of the 20th century. Her voice was described by one critic as “a gift from heaven.” She was often compared to the celebrated African American contralto Marian Anderson. The Nova Scotia Talent Trust was established in 1944 specifically to enable White to concentrate on her professional career. She was named a “person of national historic significance” by the Government of Canada in 1995.
Malcolm Troup. Pianist, teacher, b Toronto 22 Feb 1930; PH D musicology (York, England) 1968, honorary LL D (Memorial) 1985. He studied under Norman Wilks and Alberto Guerrero at the RCMT and made his debut at 17 with a CBC Toronto orchestra playing Rubinstein's Concerto in D.
Edoardo Ferrari-Fontana. Tenor, teacher, b Rome 8 Jul 1878, d Toronto 4 Jul 1936. The son of a surgeon, he studied medicine before taking up a consular post in Montevideo.
Patty Johnson, designer (born 1957 in Vancouver, BC). In addition to her elegant and modern furniture designs, Johnson is recognized for her work as an international creative collaborator.
John Murray Gibbon, railway publicist and author (born 12 April 1875 in Udeweller, Ceylon [Sri Lanka]; died 2 July 1952 in Montreal, QC). A publicist with the Canadian Pacific Railway, Gibbon also actively promoted Canadian arts and culture. He organized cultural festivals, organizations that promoted tourism in the Rockies and founded the Canadian Authors Association. Gibbon also authored several articles, poems and novels. His book Canadian Mosaic (1938) popularized the "mosaic" as a metaphor for the diversity of "the Canadian people.” It has since been used by politicians, educators and policy makers to describe the cultural makeup of the country.
Carmen Lombardo. Saxophonist, singer, songwriter, b London, Ont, 16 Jul 1903, d Miami 17 Apr 1971. He was a brother of Guy Lombardo. He studied flute in London and played flute and C-melody saxophone in western Ontario with the Lombardo Brothers' Orchestra and Concert Company in his teens.
Zacharie Vincent, known as Telariolin, was an Aboriginal artist (born 28 January 1815 in the village of Jeune-Lorette, Québec — formerly Village-Huron, today the Wendake Reserve; died 9 October 1886 in Québec City).
Matthews, Michael (Bass). Composer, teacher, conductor, b Gander, Nfld, 28 Aug 1950; B MUS (California State, Northridge) 1975, MA (California State, Sacramento) 1979, PH D (North Texas State) 1982.
Jeff Lemire, illustrator, graphic novelist (b at Essex County, Ont, 21 Mar 1976).
Sylvia D. Hamilton, filmmaker, writer, educator (born in Beechville, NS). Sylvia Hamilton specializes in re-evaluating Canadian history and focusing on the perspectives of Black Canadians, particularly Black Canadian women. Her films include Black Mother Black Daughter (1989); the Gemini Award winner Speak It! From the Heart of Black Nova Scotia (1993); the biographical documentary Portia White: Think On Me (2000); and The Little Black School House (2007). She has received many honours and awards, including the Nova Scotia Portia White Prize, the Pierre Berton Award from the Governor General’s History Awards for Popular Media, and the Luminary Award from the Documentary Organization of Canada (DOC).
Electronic group The Halluci Nation (previously known as A Tribe Called Red) has garnered international acclaim for its politically charged, powwow drum-driven dance music. Featuring the DJs Bear Witness (Thomas Ehren Ramon) and 2oolman (Tim Hill), the group emerged from an Ottawa club party called Electric Pow Wow, which began in 2007. Former members include DJ Shub (Dan General), and founding members DJ NDN (Ian Campeau) and Dee Jay Frame (Jon Limoges). The group has described its “powwow step” music as “the soundtrack to a contemporary evolution of the powwow.” ATCR is part of what broadcaster and educator Wab Kinew has called the “Indigenous Music Renaissance,” an innovative new generation of Indigenous artists in Canada. The group was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize in 2013 and 2017, and has won three Juno Awards, including Breakthrough Group of the Year in 2014 and Group of the Year in 2018.
Sankaran, Trichy. Performer, composer, ethnomusicologist, b Poovalur, Madras State, India, 27 Jul 1942; BA (Madras), 1964; MA (Madras) 1966. He is the most distinguished performer from the gharana (circle of pupils) of Palani Subramania Pillai, with whom he studied 1954-9.