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John Beckwith, CM, composer, writer, educator, pianist, broadcaster, administrator (born 9 March 1927 in Victoria, BC; died 5 December 2022 in Toronto, ON). One of English Canada’s most distinctive composers, John Beckwith created a wealth of music rooted in his sensitive experience of the Canadian environment. Widely read and highly articulate in both official languages, he was dean of the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto (1970–77) as well as a writer, administrator and broadcaster. A committed champion of Canadian music, Beckwith was for five decades one of the most important influences on Canada’s musical life. He was a Member of the Order of Canada and an associate of the Canadian Music Centre.

Justin Drew Bieber, singer, songwriter, actor (born 1 March 1994 in London, ON).

Jean Coulthard, OC, OBC, composer, teacher (born 10 February 1908 in Vancouver, BC; died 9 March 2000 in North Vancouver, BC). A pioneering woman composer and the first composer from Canada's West Coast to receive wide recognition, Jean Coulthard’s music is remarkable for its integrity, purity of expression and deeply emotional language.

When Canada declared war on Germany on 10 September 1939, tens of thousands of Canadians enlisted to serve in the army, navy,  air force and supporting services. The military scrambled to buy equipment, train recruits and prepare for war. Little thought was given, at first, to documenting the war effort. By 1940, however, the military was recruiting historians, most notably Charles Stacey, to collect records and write accounts of Canadian operations. In the following years, artists, photographers and filmmakers also served with the various branches of the armed forces. Today, their diligent work provides a rich visual and written catalogue of Canada’s history in the Second World War.

Harry Freedman (b Henryk Frydmann). Composer, english hornist, educator, b Lodz, Poland, 5 Apr 1922, naturalized Canadian 1932, d Toronto 16 Sep 2005.

Sir Ernest (Alexander Campbell) MacMillan.

Atom Egoyan (born Atom Yeghoyan), CC, FRCA, writer, director, producer, artist (born 19 July 1960 in Cairo, Egypt). Atom Egoyan is one of Canada’s most acclaimed and influential filmmakers. Cerebral and unconventional, his films are often told in a non-linear style. They typically tackle such themes as personal and communal displacement, the alienating effects of media and technology, and the lingering effects of trauma and abuse. Perhaps best known for The Adjuster, Exotica and The Sweet Hereafter, Egoyan is a rare Canadian filmmaker to achieve auteur status on an international scale. His numerous accolades include two Oscar nominations, eight Genie Awards, five major prizes at the Cannes Film Festival and a Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement. In addition to cinema, he has also excelled at directing theatre and opera and is an acclaimed installation artist. He is an Companion of the Order of Canada and a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la France.

Harry Stewart Somers, CC, composer, pianist (born 11 September 1925 in Toronto, ON; died 9 March 1999 in Toronto, ON).

Lucy Maud Montgomery, OBE, writer (born 30 November 1874 in Clifton (now New London), PEI; died 24 April 1942 in Toronto, ON). Lucy Maud Montgomery is arguably Canada’s most widely read author. Her first novel, Anne of Green Gables (1908), became an instant best-seller. It has remained in print for more than a century, making the character of Anne Shirley a mythic icon of Canadian culture. Montgomery produced more than 500 short stories, 21 novels, two poetry collections, and numerous journal and essay anthologies. Her body of work has sold an estimated 50 million copies worldwide. Anne of Green Gables alone has been translated into at least 36 languages as well as braille. It has been adapted dozens of times in various mediums. Montgomery was named an Officer of both the Order of the British Empire and the Literary and Artistic Institute of France. She was the first Canadian woman to be made a member of the British Royal Society of Arts and she was declared a Person of National Historic Significance in Canada.

Several common traits - particularly the wish to preserve the culture and language of the country of origin and to instil a sense of community ties - can be found as the driving motivation behind any theatre group formed within a recent immigrant community.

Suppressing a youthful urge to become a painter, R. Murray Schafer entered the Royal Conservatory of Music and the University of Toronto in 1952 to study with Alberto Guerrero (piano), Greta Kraus (harpsichord), John Weinzweig (composition), and Arnold Walter (musicology).

Oscar Emmanuel Peterson, CC, CQ, OOnt, jazz pianist, composer, educator (born 15 August 1925 in Montreal, QC; died 23 December 2007 in Mississauga, ON). Oscar Peterson is one of Canada’s most honoured musicians. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time. He was renowned for his remarkable speed and dexterity, meticulous and ornate technique and dazzling, swinging style. He earned the nicknames “the brown bomber of boogie-woogie” and “master of swing.” A prolific recording artist, he typically released several albums a year from the 1950s until his death. He also appeared on more than 200 albums by other artists, including Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzy Gillespie, Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong, who called him “the man with four hands.” His sensitivity in these supporting roles, as well as his acclaimed compositions such as Canadiana Suite and “Hymn to Freedom,” was overshadowed by his stunning virtuosity as a soloist. Also a noted jazz educator and advocate for racial equality, Peterson won a Juno Award and eight Grammy Awards, including one for lifetime achievement. The first recipient of the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award for Lifetime Achievement, he was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the International Jazz Hall of Fame. He was also made an Officer and then Companion of the Order of Canada, and an Officer in the Order of Arts and Letters in France, among many other honours.