Article

Richard Hayward

Published Online May 7, 2007

Last Edited December 16, 2013

Richard (Benjamin) Hayward. Bandmaster, composer, b London 16 Dec 1874, d Toronto 2 Jan 1961. He enlisted in the British Army as a band boy in 1887, studied cornet, and graduated from the RMSM (Kneller Hall) in 1904.

Hayward, Richard

Richard (Benjamin) Hayward. Bandmaster, composer, b London 16 Dec 1874, d Toronto 2 Jan 1961. He enlisted in the British Army as a band boy in 1887, studied cornet, and graduated from the RMSM (Kneller Hall) in 1904. He was bandmaster 1905-14 of the Royal Irish Rifles and became the only serving bandmaster in the British Army to be promoted to a combatant commission. Retiring in 1919 with the rank of captain, he moved in 1921 to Toronto, where he served as music director 1921-8 of the Queen's Own Rifles of Canada Band and teacher of wind instruments at the TCM. He founded the Toronto Police Band in 1926, conducted the Toronto Concert Band 1925-39, and at the outbreak of World War II once again led the Queen's Own Rifles. A charter member (1929) of the American Bandmasters Association, he was its president in 1940. He also served as dean of bands 1941-5 for the Southern Music Camp, Texas. In 1956 he was made a life member of the CBA. Hayward's compositions for band (listed in Catalogue of Canadian Composers) include overtures, rhapsodies, and suites published by C. Fischer, G. Schirmer, and Boosey & Hawkes. He won the Composer's Competition in 1949. Many of his manuscript scores have been deposited at the National Library of Canada. He also wrote articles about music for the Globe (Toronto), Metronome, and the School Musician.