Jack Snider

Jack Snider (Sniderman). Teacher, composer, drummer, b Russia 1897, d Delray Beach, Fla, 10 Oct 1977. Moving to England and then to Canada, he played drums in pit bands in Toronto and, during the 1920s, at the B.F. Keith Theatre in Ottawa. In Ottawa he formed and conducted the Young Judea Orchestra. He took his family in 1930 to Toronto, began playing saxophone and violin, and joined Charlie Hannigan and His Mountaineers, a country band that broadcast on radio station CKCL and performed regularly at Playter's Hall. Snider taught in Toronto until 1975, both privately and at the United Music School opened by his son Art. He taught all his sons, Lou, Art, and Dave. His compositions include Judea (for the Young Judea Orchestra), Melody for Heavy Bells (late 1920s, for Percival Price, and a part of the Dominion Carillonneurs' repertoire for more than 50 years), and such songs as 'Sweet Caroline' (1923, recorded by Tommy Ambrose in 1960) and 'Oriole' (1976, recorded by Lee Sanford).