James Gayfer

James McDonald Gayfer (born March 26, 1916 in Toronto , † April 7, 1997 in Lindsay / Ontario ) was a Canadian military bandmaster, clarinetist, organist and choir director, composer and music teacher.

Gayfer was a Boy Scout, Cadet, and eventually a member of the Toronto Scottish Regiment Militia between 1929 and 1941 . During this time he had piano lessons with Jennie Goodman Bouck and Reginald Godden and organ lessons with Maitland Farmer . From 1942 to 1967 he was in the Canadian Army clarinetist ( Royal Canadian Signals Corps , 1942-45 in Europe), military bandmaster and music inspector (1947-51), music director in Ontario, Korea and Canada (1954-61) and finally a training officer at the Canadian Forces School of Music (1961-68). He left the army with the rank of major.

In the early 1940s, Gayfer studied at the University of Toronto with Ettore Mazzoleni (orchestration), Arthur H. Middleton and S. Drummond Wolff . In 1942 he met Ralph Vaughan Williams , with whom he became friends. From 1945 to 1947 he studied at the Royal Military School of Music in London. In addition to his musical activities in the army, he worked as an organist and choir director of various churches in Ontario, conductor of the Harmony Symphony Orchestra Toronto (1949-54), opera and operetta conductor in Victoria (1962-66), guest conductor of the Vicoria Symphony Orchestra (1962- 64) and leader of the Kitchener Musical Society Band (1971–72).

After retiring from the army, Gayfer taught at the Southwood Secondary School in Galt (where he founded the Galt Community Choir and Orchestra in 1967 and directed the Galt Community Choir and Orchestra until 1970) at Champlain High School in Pembroke and from 1972 to 1974 at Dalhousie University . In 1978 he founded the Petawawa Legion Community Band . He was also a church organist in Petawawa and Lindsay.

Gayfer composed two symphonies and other orchestral works ( Canadian Landscape , 1963, Yukon Summer 1985), a string quartet (1944), Six Translations from the Chinese for tenor and orchestra, a suite for woodwind quintet (1947) and a saxophone concertante for five saxophones (1972 ), Works for military orchestras ( The Wells of Marah , 1957, The Canadian Infantryman , 1960, The St. John Ambulance Canadian Centennial March , 1982), piano pieces, songs, hymns and choral works. The majority of his published compositions were published by Boosey & Hawkes .

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• James Gayfer ( English, French ) In: Encyclopedia of Music in Canada . published by The Canadian Encyclopedia .
• The Just Friends Musical Society - James McDonald "Doc" Gayfer