Graham Elias George was a Canadian composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

, music theorist

Music theory

Music theory is the study of how music works. It examines the language and notation of music. It seeks to identify patterns and structures in composers' techniques across or within genres, styles, or historical periods...

, organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

, choir

Choir

A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...

 conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

, and music educator of English birth. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre

Canadian Music Centre

The Canadian Music Centre holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music. The CMC exists to promote the works of its Associate Composers in Canada and around the world....

, his compositional output consists largely of choral works written in the 20th-century Anglican style. He also wrote three ballet

Ballet

Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...

s, four opera

Opera

Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...

s, and some symphonic music. In 1938 he won the Jean Lallemand Prize

Jean Lallemand

Jean Lallemand was a Canadian industrialist, philanthropist, and patron of the arts. In 1968 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada and in 1979 he received a Canadian Music Council Medal....

 for his Variations on an Original Theme. His archives are part of the collection at the Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada

Library and Archives Canada is a national memory institution dedicated to providing the best possible account of Canadian life through acquiring, preserving and making Canada's documentary heritage accessible for use in the 21st century and beyond...

.

Early life and education

Born in Norwich

Norwich

Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...

, he moved to Canada in 1928 at the age of 16. He studied the organ and music composition with Alfred Whitehead

Alfred Whitehead

Alfred Ernest Whitehead was an English composer, organist, choirmaster, and music educator who was primarily active in Canada. He taught music at several Canadian institutions of higher learning during his career and held the post of organist/choirmaster at a number of prominent Canadian churches...

. He earned an associate diploma in 1934 and fellow diploma in 1936 from the Royal Canadian College of Organists

Royal Canadian College of Organists

The Royal Canadian College of Organists , founded in 1909,is a national association of organists and church musicians in Canada, with 32 centres from Victoria, British Columbia to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.The National Office is in Toronto....

. In 1935 he obtained an associate diploma from the Royal College of Organists

Royal College of Organists

The Royal College of Organists or RCO, is a charity and membership organisation based in the United Kingdom, but with members around the world...

. From the University of Toronto

University of Toronto

The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...

 he earned a Bachelor of Music

Bachelor of Music

Bachelor of Music is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree; the majority of work consists of prescribed music courses and study in applied music, usually requiring a...

 (1936) and a Doctor of Music

Doctor of Music

The Doctor of Music degree , like other doctorates, is an academic degree of the highest level. The D.Mus. is intended for musicians and composers who wish to combine the highest attainments in their area of specialization with doctoral-level academic study in music...

 (1939). He later studied music composition with Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith

Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child...

 at the Yale School of Music

Yale School of Music

The Yale School of Music is one of the twelve professional schools at Yale University and one of the premier music conservatories in the world....

 in 1952-1953 and conducting with Willem van Otterloo

Willem van Otterloo

Jan Willem van Otterloo was a Dutch conductor, cellist and composer.-Biography:Van Otterloo was born in Winterswijk, Gelderland, in the Netherlands, the son of William Frederik van Otterloo, a railway inspector, and his wife Anna Catharina Enderlé...

 in Holland in 1956.

Career

From 1932-1937 he worked in Montreal as an organist/choirmaster and teacher, and then worked in a similar capacity in Sherbrooke, Quebec from 1937-1941. In 1946 he joined the faculty of Queen's University

Queen's University

Queen's University, , is a public research university located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Founded on 16 October 1841, the university pre-dates the founding of Canada by 26 years. Queen's holds more more than of land throughout Ontario as well as Herstmonceux Castle in East Sussex, England...

 where he taught for the next 31 years. He received a research grant from the university and an exchange grant from the Canada Council

Canada Council

The Canada Council for the Arts, commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown Corporation established in 1957 to act as an arts council of the government of Canada, created to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts. It funds Canadian artists and...

 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.

In 1953 George established the Kingston Choral Society and in 1954 he founded the Kingston Symphony

Kingston Symphony

The Kingston Symphony is a Canadian orchestra based in Kingston, Ontario. The orchestra was founded in 1953 under the name the New Symphony Association of Kingston. It was renamed the Kingston Symphony in 1963 with the formation of its new umbrella organization the Kingston Symphony Association...

; 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 1965-1968. He was active as an organist/choirmaster in Kingston and Gananoque from 1946-1975. 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.

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

Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease also known in medical literature as Alzheimer disease is the most common form of dementia. There is no cure for the disease, which worsens as it progresses, and eventually leads to death...

 in Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario

Kingston, Ontario is a Canadian city located in Eastern Ontario where the St. Lawrence River flows out of Lake Ontario. Originally a First Nations settlement called "Katarowki," , growing European exploration in the 17th Century made it an important trading post...

 in 1993 at the age of 81. His wife of many years, soprano Tjot George, had died two years previously.