Julian Armour
Encyclopedia
Meritorious Service Decoration (Canada)
The Meritorious Service Decorations , available in two forms as the Meritorious Service Cross and the Meritorious Service Medal , are Canadian decorations awarded to those who have demonstrated an outstanding level of service or set an exemplary standard of...
(born 29 September 1960 in Missoula, Montana
Missoula, Montana
Missoula is a city located in western Montana and is the county seat of Missoula County. The 2010 Census put the population of Missoula at 66,788 and the population of Missoula County at 109,299. Missoula is the principal city of the Missoula Metropolitan Area...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
) is a Canadian cellist
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
and artistic director. Armour is married to violist
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
Guylaine Lemaire. He is the son of the philosopher Leslie Armour
Leslie Armour
Leslie Armour is a Canadian-born philosopher and writer on social economics. He is the father of the cellist and impresario Julian Armour.-Academic career:...
.
Early life and education
Shortly after his birth, Armour's parents (both Canadian citizens) moved the family back to Canada. Armour majored in history, economics and English literature at the University of OttawaUniversity of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
. After graduation, he studied at McGill University
McGill University
Mohammed Fathy is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Glasgow, Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
with Walter Joachim, the distinguished Canadian cellist. He later continued to study with some of the greatest cellists of our time including János Starker
János Starker
János Starker |Kingdom of Hungary]]) is a Hungarian-American cellist. Since 1958 he has taught at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, where he holds the title of Distinguished Professor.- Child prodigy :...
, Ralph Kirshbaum
Ralph Kirshbaum
Ralph Henry Kirshbaum is an American cellist currently living in Los Angeles. During his career he has performed solos with major orchestras worldwide, won prizes in several international competitions, and recorded extensively....
, Aldo Parisot
Aldo Parisot
Aldo Simoes Parisot is a Brazilian-born American cellist and cello teacher, was formerly a member of the Juilliard School faculty, and currently is serving as a professor of music at the Yale School of Music....
and Leonard Rose
Leonard Rose
Leonard Rose was an American cellist and pedagogue.Rose was born in Washington, D.C., his parents were immigrants from Kiev, Ukraine...
.
Career
One of Canada's most active cellists, Armour performs throughout Canada, the United States and Europe and is regularly heard on CBC RadioCBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
. As a chamber musician, he has appeared in television broadcasts on CBC
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...
, CTV
CTV television network
CTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
, PBS, EWTN, and Vision TV
Vision TV
VisionTV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel that broadcasts multi-faith, multicultural, and general entertainment programming aimed at the 45 and over demographic....
. He has recorded over 30 CDs for labels including Marquis, Crystal, ATMA, CMS Classics, CentreDiscs, SRI, CanSona, Studea Musica and CBC.
He is the founder of the Ottawa Chamber Music Society (OCMS). Until his resignation in March 2007, he was the OCMS' Artistic and Executive Director. Under his directorship, the OCMS's main event, the Ottawa International Chamber Music Festival
Ottawa Chamber Music Festival
Ottawa Chamberfest is a music festival held by the Ottawa Chamber Music Society in Ottawa, Canada.-Artists:In 1994, the idea of a chamber music festival in Ottawa came to life to remedy the meager availability of live classical music during the summer months and fill the city’s churches with...
, grew to become the world's largest chamber music festival. From 2003 to 2009, Armour was the president of the Ottawa Festival Network.
In 2000 Armour received the Victor Tolgesy Arts Award from the Council for the Arts in Ottawa. It recognizes those who contribute to the city's cultural enrichment. In 1999, he was awarded the Community Foundation's Investing in People Award, in recognition of his efforts to bring classical music to new audiences. For his contributions to music, Armour was named a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in December 2002 by the Government of France. Her Excellency the Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Clarkson
Adrienne Louise Clarkson is a Canadian journalist and stateswoman who served as Governor General of Canada, the 26th since Canadian Confederation....
, Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada awarded Armour the Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Decoration (Canada)
The Meritorious Service Decorations , available in two forms as the Meritorious Service Cross and the Meritorious Service Medal , are Canadian decorations awarded to those who have demonstrated an outstanding level of service or set an exemplary standard of...
in 2003.
He is currently the Artistic Director of the Chamber Players of Canada, Chamber Music Programmer for Galaxie
Galaxie
Galaxie is a Canadian multilingual digital pay television audio service owned by Stingray Digital.-Programming:Galaxie consists of 49 commercial-free music based audio channels, each devoted to a particular genre, distributed through digital television platforms. Each channel consists of a...
(CBC Radio's continuous music channel), and Principal Cellist of the chamber orchestra, Thirteen Strings. For two years Armour taught cello masterclasses at the Orford Arts Centre. He regularly teaches at the University of Ottawa
University of Ottawa
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, offering courses in both music performance and arts administration.
In 2010 Armour became Artistic and Executive Director of the festival, Music and Beyond
Music and Beyond
Music and Beyond is a new classical music festival that features classical music in all its forms: orchestras, choirs, bands, baroque groups and small ensembles. In its inaugural season from July 5 to July 14, 2010, Music and Beyond presented performances by internationally renowned artists in Ottawa...
. The "second great festival" Armour has founded, Music and Beyond presents classical music in all its forms: orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
s, 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...
s, bands, baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
groups and small ensembles. In special concerts it features performances that embrace music's relationships with dance, poetry, food, wine, science and visual art.