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George Bassingthwaighte |
 Biography |
George Bassingthwaighte (1947-1994), born and raised in Toronto, studied piano, voice and composition under scholarship at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto and at the Faculty of Music, University of Toronto. A gifted musician, George Bassingthwaighte studied with many fine teachers - John Coveart, Howell Glynne, Samuel Dolin, Lois Marshall, Greta Kraus and John Hawkins - although he always attributed his growth as a musician primarily to one exceptional teacher, Weldon Kilburn, with whom he studied voice and piano. At the American Conservatory at Fontainebleau, France, George spent two summers studying composition and analysis with the renowned French teacher, Nadia Boulanger. A versatile artist, George performed as a bass-baritone soloist, a piano accompanist, a vocal coach, and an assistant conductor. He worked in theatres, mostly in Toronto, as music director, arranger, composer and actor, and made a number of appearances on CBC radio and T.V. George was also a member of the Elmer Iseler Singers and can be heard on their 1994 CBC recording, The Glory of Palestrina.
In the last five years of his life, George returned to his greatest love, choral music. He has left a musical legacy of a number of fine choral compositions which have received awards, a major choral work, Triptych, based on poetry by the Canadian poet, Margaret Avison, and a cycle of 12 songs for soprano and piano. His Christmas Carol, Festival Bright, was broadcast on CBC-FM. All these works will enrich the soul of anyone who is prepared to be challenged and receptive to an original musical voice. In George's own words on writing about his choral composition. I will Greatly Rejoice in the Lord: "I wanted to write music of exaltation, at the same time showing how difficult it is to be joyous in our world as it is. How can one Be-Happy-Don't-Worry in a world where starvation and suffering are commonplace? I wanted the utter jubilation of the anthem's climax, but also the struggle, the very hard work that must be gone through to acheive any celebration. This is not an easy piece, paarticularly for the singers to perform, but the difficulties are quite purposeful, and in the end, I hope, rewarding for both performers and audience." George died at the age of 47 on December 17, 1994 after a courageous battle against leukemia.
1998
