Arthur Semple

Semple, Arthur

Arthur (Emil) Semple. Flutist, conductor, civil servant, b Toronto 9 Mar 1876, d there 9 Feb 1963; Fellow Toronto College of Music, LRAM, LAB, before 1912; B MUS (Toronto) 1915. He was the principal flute in the Welsman TSO in its early years and with other Toronto orchestras and bands and gave recitals and concerto performances. He also served as organist-choirmaster in St Luke's Anglican and Zion Congregational churches, taught 1912-13 at the Toronto College of Music, and joined the staff of the Hambourg Conservatory in 1913. He wrote flute solos, church music, and a cantata, Blest Pair of Sirens. He is remembered as the founder around the end of World War I of the Harmony Symphony Orchestra, which he conducted until the mid-1930s. He was the founder and first president (1944) of the Toronto Flute Club. Semple served 1899-1939 in the Ontario civil service as private secretary (1901-4) to Ontario's premier George W. Ross and to six successive provincial secretaries.