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Create AccountDeirdre (Jane) Piper (b David John; referred to by that name until 1996). Teacher, composer, organist, choral conductor, pianist; b Truro, Cornwall, England, 2 Mar 1943, naturalized Canadian 1991; ARMCM 1963, GRSM 1964, B MUS (Manchester) 1965; PH D (Manchester) 1968.
Reeves, John. Composer, broadcaster, author, b Merritt, BC, 1 Dec 1926; BA classics (Cambridge) 1948. Educated in England, he began conducting Gregorian chant and renaissance polyphony as a teenager and won a choral scholarship to St John's College, Cambridge.
Marie Uguay, poet (born 22 April 1955 in Montréal, Québec; died 26 October 1981 in Montréal). This young poet was truly a shooting star in the firmament of Québec poetry.
We associate the self-taught artist Paul Kane (1810-71) with romantic paintings of Aboriginal people and credit him with accurately depicting specific individuals, their affiliations, and the landscapes of the "Great Nor'West.
Fronted by lead singer Paul Hyde’s eccentric, English-accented vocals and lyrics, and characterized by several shifts in style and sound, the punk/new wave/pop band Payola$ (later Paul Hyde and the Payolas, then Rock and Hyde) was one of the more idiosyncratic Canadian groups to enjoy commercial success in the 1980s.
Stephen Reid, writer, bank robber (born 13 March 1950 in Massey, ON; died 13 June 2018 in Haida Gwaii, BC). Best known for his novel, Jackrabbit Parole (1986) and his collection of essays, A Crowbar in The Buddhist Garden: Writing from Prison (2012), Stephen Reid was a founding member of the infamous Stopwatch Gang.
Hope (Anne Keng-Wei) Lee. Composer, pianist, teacher, b Taiwan, 14 Jan 1953, naturalized Canadian 1974; B SC (Toronto) 1973, B MUS (McGill) 1978, M MUS (McGill) 1981. Hope Lee was raised in Taiwan of mainland Chinese parents, and began studying piano at five.
Hana Gartner was barrelling across the vast terrazzo expanse of the CBC's Toronto headquarters, doing what she claims she does best - worrying.
Joseph Gérard Adolphe Claude Léveillée, OC, OQ, singer, songwriter, pianist, actor (born 16 October 1932 in Montréal, QC; died 9 June 2011 in Saint-Benoit-de-Mirabel, QC).
Norman Alec Symonds, composer, clarinetist, saxophonist (born 23 December 1920 near Nelson, BC; died 21 August 1998 in Toronto, ON).
Ronald Cornett Hawkins, OC (honorary), singer, songwriter, entrepreneur, actor (born 10 January 1935 in Huntsville, Arkansas; died 29 May 2022). Legendary rockabilly bandleader Ronnie Hawkins was a pioneer of rock music in Canada and a mentor to many of the country's leading rock musicians. Also known as “Rompin' Ronnie Hawkins,” “The King of Rockabilly,” “The Hawk” and “Mr. Dynamo,” he was renowned for his high-energy performances and larger-than-life personality onstage and off. One of rock’s most colourful personalities, Hawkins is regarded by many as "the granddaddy of Canadian rock ‘n’ roll." An honorary Officer of the Order of Canada, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Industry Hall of Fame, Canada’s Walk of Fame, the Arkansas Entertainers Hall of Fame and the Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
An Officer of the Order of Canada, two-time winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award, and recipient of the Griffin Poetry Prize, Margaret Avison is one of Canada’s most profoundly influential poets, known for the exploration of Christian themes in her work.
Gaston Miron, poet, publisher (born 8 January 1928 at Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, QC; died 14 December 1996 in Montréal, QC). An Officer of the National Order of Québec and a Commandeur de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres, one of France’s highest honours.
Elizabeth Posthuma Simcoe, née Gwillim, author and illustrator (baptized 22 September 1762 in Northamptonshire, England; died 17 March 1850 in Devon, England). Elizabeth was the wife of John Graves Simcoe, the first lieutenant-governor of Upper Canada. She was an author and illustrator, renowned for her detailed diary and pictures depicting life in early Upper Canada.
Andrew Suknaski, poet (born at Wood Mountain, SK 30 July 1942; died at Moose Jaw, SK 3 May 2012).
Greta Kraus. Harpsichordist, pianist, accompanist, teacher, b Vienna 3 Aug 1907, naturalized Canadian 1944, d Toronto, 30 Mar 1998. She entered the Vienna Academy of Music in 1923 and received a Music Teacher's Diploma in 1930.
Toronto Jewish Folk Choir. Amateur choir, Canada's oldest continuing Jewish choral group. Its repertoire, sung in four-part harmony, encompasses a wide range of secular Jewish music, classical works on Jewish themes (eg Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves from Verdi's Nabucco), and songs of many lands.
