Bill Richards

William (Bill) Francis Caven Richards (born March 28, 1923 in Ottawa , † February 28, 1995 in Scarborough ) was a Canadian violinist and composer.

Richard took piano lessons from Herbert Sanders and violin lessons from David Shuttleworth and Jack Cavill . He continued his violin training with Broadus Farmer (1939), Elie Spivak (1946) and Albert Pratz (in the 1950s). At the age of eight he already appeared on the radio as a violin soloist. In 1942 he joined the Royal Canadian Navy and was a member of Meet the Navy , a music revue of the Navy , from 1943 to 1945 .

After the war he began a career as a studio musician and producer on radio and television. On the CBC radio he was presenter and arranger of the shows Guest Time (954-59) and Trans-Canada Talent Show and 1959 music director of Swing Easy . From 1958 he was on the board of the Toronto Musicians' Association for 25 years and published its magazine Crecendo from 1965 to 1977 .

In addition to some film scores, Richards composed a flute quartet (1964), as well as some fiddle pieces, two of which he recorded on record himself. He recorded two LPs with the organist Lou Snyder in 1962, and he can also be heard in recordings with musicians such as Moe Koffman , Catherine McKinnon , Anne Murray and Gordon Lightfoot .

source

• Bill Richards ( English, French ) In: Encyclopedia of Music in Canada . published by The Canadian Encyclopedia .