Mills-Cockell, John

Websites:  https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/john-mills-cockell-emc, https://johnmillscockell.ca/, https://johnmillscockell.bandcamp.com/
Origin: Toronto, Ontario - Vancouver, British Columbia
Biography:

Mills-Cockell, John. Composer, synthesizist, pianist, organist, b Toronto 19 May 1943. His teachers at the RCMT and the University of Toronto included John Coveart (piano), Samuel Dolin (composition), and Gustav Ciamaga (electronic music). Mills-Cockell won a BMI Award to Student Composers in 1967 for his Movements for orchestra and Reverberation for solo trombone and two stereo tapes, establishing early a specialization in electroacoustic music.

As pianist, organist, and one of the first musicians in Canada to employ the Moog and Arp synthesizers in live performance, Mills-Cockell worked in 1968 with Intersystems (a mixed-media group with sculptor Michael Hayden, architect Dick Zander, and poet Blake Parker), in 1969 with Kensington Market, in Vancouver 1969-70 with Hydro-Electric Streetcar, and again in Toronto 1970-2 with Syrinx. The last-named group, completed by Doug Pringle (saxophones), Allan Wells (percussion), and, later, Malcolm Tomlinson (drums and voice), made the LPs Syrinx (TNorth TN-2) and Long Lost Relatives (TNorth TN-5), was seen on TV (eg, the CTV series 'Here Come the Seventies,' playing the theme music on camera, and CBC's Music to See,' in a performance of Mills-Cockell's Stringspace) and performed in concert and clubs locally.

Mills-Cockell lived for most of the period 1972-4 in England, then returned to Toronto, where he has concentrated on the composition and recording of music for film, TV, and theatre. He made three LPs 1973-7: Heartbeat (TNorth TN-12), The Third Testament (TNorth TN-17, of music written in 1973 for a CBC/Time-Life TV series of the same name), and Gateway: A New Music Adventure (Anubis ANX-1).

He subsequently completed scores for the feature films The Clown Murders (1975), Deadly Harvest (1976), Terror Train (1979), and Humongous (1981), for the TV films Maggie and Pierre (1984), Labour of Love (1984), Striker's Mountain (1985), and Half a Lifetime (1985), and for many TV series and documentaries - eg, 'The Stationary Ark' (1975), 'Arc on the Move' (1981), Challenge: the Canadian Rockies (1982), and 'The Little Vampire' (1985). He also has written music for the National Ballet of Canada (January Tree and For Internal Use Only 1971), the Toronto Dance Theatre (Starscape 1971), the Anna Wyman Dance Company (Deflections 1976), and for many theatrical productions - eg, the Toronto Free Theatre's outdoor staging in High Park of A Midsummer Night's Dream (1983), Romeo and Juliet (1986) and The Tempest (1987).

John Mills-Cockell (born 19 May 1943) is a Canadian composer and multi-instrumentalist, perhaps best known for his ground-breaking work with progressive / avant garde Canadian groups Intersystems and Syrinx, and for his numerous works for radio, television, film, ballet, and stage.

Mills-Cockell was one of the earliest adopters of the Moog synthesizer, and is generally regarded as a pioneer in the field of electronic music.

Mills-Cockell was born in Toronto, Ontario. His mother passed away when he was six months old. His father, whose work often required him to spend extended time overseas, found it necessary to place Mills-Cockell in an orphanage for a time shortly thereafter. Eventually, Mills-Cockell’s father remarried and the family was reunited. Mills-Cockell has two younger brothers.

Mills-Cockell was introduced to music at the age of 5, when his father, a devoted amateur musician and choir singer, encouraged him to join a church choir. At the age of fifteen, he heard his first piece of electronic music and found himself "hooked."

Intersystems
In Toronto in the fall of 1967, Mills-Cockell joined forces with light sculptor Michael Hayden, poet Blake Parker, and architect Dik Zander to form Intersystems, an arts collective and multimedia performance group. Intersystems’ multimedia presentations were a classification-defying juxtaposition of Mills-Cockell’s music, Hayden’s light shows, Parker’s spoken-word poetry readings, with Zander’s engineering skills underlying the construction of the presentations.

Intersystems performed extensively in Canada and the US, including in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, New York City, Pittsburgh, and, at the invitation of Buckminster Fuller, Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois.

Intersystems released three LP recordings: Number One Intersystems (1967), Peachy (1968), and Free Psychedelic Poster Inside (1968). These original releases have become collector's items and are exceedingly difficult to find.

In late 2015, all three Intersystems albums were remastered and reissued, together with a 132-page bound booklet containing photos, essays, and reproductions of vintage press coverage, on Italian label Alga Marghen, to widespread acclaim.

The band made a surprise comeback in March of 2021, with the announcement of their 4th album, titled #4. The album is set to release on April 31st of the same year.

Syrinx
After the dissolution of Intersystems in 1968, Mills-Cockell continued to compose, working with a number of other established musicians, including Anne Murray, Bruce Cockburn, and Murray McLauchlan.

His next major visible milestone came in 1970, when, together with percussionist Alan Wells and saxophonist Doug Pringle, Mills-Cockell formed Syrinx, a progressive music trio whose body of work incorporated elements of electronica, classical and world music, and psychedelic rock. Syrinx played the Toronto coffee-house circuit. After a time, Canadian music executive and talent manager Bernie Finkelstein signed the trio to his newly created True North Records.

1970: First Album and Growing Notice
Syrinx released its first (eponymous) album in 1970.

The album garnered an enthusiastic response from critics, and in its wake, the group found itself newly in demand from a variety of quarters.

Syrinx opened for jazz legend Miles Davis on his Bitches Brew tour, and played bills with Ravi Shankar.

In addition, the first release attracted the attention of executives from CTV, which commissioned a theme song for its forward-looking television series Here Come the Seventies. This commission resulted in Mills-Cockell composing Tillicum, which was later released as a single and was included on Syrinx’s second album.

The first album also resulted in a 1971 commission, from the respected Toronto Repertory Orchestra, of Stringspace, which Mills-Cockell composed for Syrinx, the TRO, and additional percussion. Stringspace is a 26-minute composition in four movements: December Angel, Syren, Ibisitx, and Field Hymn (Epilogue). Stringspace was performed live by Syrinx and the TRO, conducted by Milton Barnes, and broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s program Music to See in 1971.

1971: Long Lost Relatives
Riding the wave of notice and critical approval that arose from their first album, Syrinx returned to the studio in late 1970 to record a second album. However, after weeks of recording, a fire destroyed the studio, the group’s instruments - including Mills-Cockell’s Moog Mark II - and the master tapes of the recordings for their new album.

Undeterred, and with fundraising support from the Toronto musical community, the group purchased new instruments and pressed on to record the album.

Long Lost Relatives was issued in 1971 on Finkelstein’s True North label. The album included Mills-Cockell’s Tillicum and the four Stringspace pieces (which, owing to the space restrictions of the LP medium, spanned both sides of the LP), rounded out by three additional Mills-Cockell compositions: Tumblers to the Vault, Better Deaf and Dumb from the First, and Aurora Spinray. Tillicum was also released as a single, and peaked at #38 on the Canadian charts in 1971.

The group disbanded in 1972 as Mills-Cockell, Wells, and Pringle went on to pursue other projects.

2016: Tumblers from the Vault (1970 - 1972)
On 24 August 2016, RVNG Intl. announced the release of Tumblers from the Vault, a remastered collection including Syrinx's entire released repertoire, together with some previously-unreleased tracks, including the audio recording of the CBC Music to See performance of Stringspace. Tumblers from the Vault has been released on 14 October 2016.

Solo Albums and Collaborations
In the years following the 1972 break-up of Syrinx, Mills-Cockell released a number of solo efforts, including Heartbeat (True North, 1973), A Third Testament (True North, 1974), Gateway (Anubis, 1977), and Do Your Hear the Rushing River? (1995). He also released a cassette of Stella in Black and White, a collaboration with poet Blake Parker, in 1994.

In 2004, Mills-Cockell released on CD his seven-movement Concerto of Deliverance, an "extended tone poem with words," with libretto by Blake Parker.

Theatre and Dance
Mills-Cockell has been active throughout his career in musicals, and has composed over 100 scores for plays in theatres across Canada. Many of his works not specifically created for dance have been adapted by dance troupes, including Belong, by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Ariel Ribbon, by the Anna Wyman Dance Theatre, and Jouney Tree and Chant for Your Dragon King by the National Ballet of Canada.

He is currently working on bringing Savitri and Sam, a full-length opera he composed, with libretto by Ken Gass, to the stage.

He is also working on his latest opera, Kid Catastrophe, with librettist France Ducasse.

Film, Television and Radio
Mills-Cockell has composed scores for such feature films as The Clown Murders (1976), Deadly Harvest (1977), Terror Train (1980), Humongous (1982), and Striker's Mountain (1985).

He has also been active as a composer for short film and television, and has created original scores for such productions as Packing Up, Reverse, The Italians, Stationary Ark, and The Little Vampire.

He has scored dozens of radio productions for the CBC.

Association with Robert Moog
During his tenure with Intersystems, Mills-Cockell was one of the first artists to adopt the Moog Modular synthesizer as a performance musical instrument, meeting several times with Robert Moog before finally purchasing an early model.

He describes first learning of the instrument:

Before long, we got wind of this instrument called a Moog synthesizer, and it seemed like a dream come true, as far as I was concerned. We had been making our own electronic instruments: playing with tape recorders, jerry-rigging things together.

It turned out [Dr. Moog] was in upstate New York, which is not that far from Toronto, and we drove there in our Volkswagen psychedelic van to see him.

The keyboard was very important to [the Moog synthesizer], and he had this ribbon controller so you could actually play melodies. I was a fairly conventional musician, even though I was doing "avant garde" music, and I wanted to be able to play rock songs."

Mills-Cockell made several trips to Trumansburg to meet with Dr. Moog, and ultimately purchased a Moog Mark II synthesizer, which he proceeded to employ in Intersystems’ performances:

We played across the country in Canada, we went into the States, we played in Illinois and Washington, and did that for about 2 years.
The Moog Mark II was destroyed in the same fire that consumed Syrinx’s master tapes for Long Lost Relatives. Mills-Cockell soldiered on, replacing the Moog with an ARP 2500 in late 1971.

Awards
Mills-Cockell’s work has been the subject of numerous awards and grants.

In 1966, his Fragments for Orchestra, Study for Bassoon, Prepared Piano and Magnetic Tape won a BMI Student Composers’ Award.

Since 1968, he has received numerous grants from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council.

His score for Half a Lifetime, a 1 hour drama directed by Daniel Petry for Astral Films & HBO was nominated for best musical score in the American Cable Awards.

His 1978 score for The Newcomers: The Italians received the CFTA award for Best Musical Score.

In 1981, his score for Terror Train received a Genie Award nomination for Best Music Score.

In 1989, he was awarded the ProCan award for "Outstanding Contribution to Music for Film".

Personal life
Mills-Cockell lives on Vancouver Island with his partner, Jean.

He remains active in musical composition.

Resume:
All styles of music, all media, any instrumentation including orchestral, band, vocal, choral, folk and contemporary, specializing in electronic and sampling instruments: as composer I have also served projects as conductor, musician, musical director, arranger, contractor and audio engineer.

Theatre
Savitri & Sam: (2nd) workshop performance at Citadel Theatre, Toronto, September, 2013, directed by Ken Gass, musical director – Gregory Oh

Uncle Vanya, Bluebridge Theatre, Victoria, directed by Brian Richmond, 2013

My Fair Lady: arranging, sound design, musical director, directed by Sara Jeanne Hosie, Bluebridge Theatre, 2013

Streetcar Named Desire, Bluebridge Theatre, director, Brian Richmond, 2010

Romeo & Juliet, Phoenix Theatre, Victoria, dir by Brian Richmond, 2009

Death of a Salesman, Bluebridge Theatre, Victoria, directed by Brian Richmond, 2009

Medea, Phoenix Theatre, Victoria, BC, director, Linda Hardy, 2009

Savitri & Sam, Factory Theatre, Toronto, workshop of opera by jmc & Ken Gass, 2008

Dark of the Moon, audition, workshops & production, UVic Theatre Dept, director, Brian Richmond, 2008

Adaskin Lecture: Dan George Theatre, UVic (Every Production is a New Experience)

Wind in the Willows by Alan Bennett, directed by Brian Richmond at Phoenix Theatre, U of Victoria, 2007

Honour by Joanna Murray-Smith, directed by Brian Richmond, Belfry Theatre, Victoria, and Prairie Theatre Exchange, Winnipeg 2006. Original cello music with Pamela Highbaugh Aloni.

Tyrants by Paul Ledoux and Jacob Richmond, directed by Brian Richmond, University of Victoria, Phoenix Theatre, 2006

Trying by Joanna Glass, directed by Brian Richmond, Vancouver Playhouse, 2005

He Who Gets Slapped by Leonid Andreev (trans. Daniel Stearns), directed by Brian Richmond, University of Victoria, 2003

The Taming of the Shrew by Shakespeare, directed by Alissa Palmer, at the University of Victoria, Phoenix Theatre, 2003

Peer Gynt by Henrik Ibsen, directed by Brian Richmond, University of Victoria, Phoenix Theatre, 2002

All’s Well That Ends Well by Wm Shakespeare, directed by Marti Maraden, National Art Center, Ottawa, 2001

Coronation Voyage by M. Bouchard, directed by Marti Maraden at National Art Centre, 2000

Hard Times by Charles Dickens, directed by Marti Maraden at NAC, 2000

Skylight by David Hare, directed by Bill Dow at Vancouver Playhouse, 2000

The Attic, The Pearls & 3 Fine Girls directed by Glynis Leyshon at Vancouver Playhouse, 1999

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde, directed by Marti Maraden at Vancouver Plathouse & National Arts Centre, Ottawa, 1999

Mrs. Warren’s Profession by George Bernard Shaw, directed by Glynis Leyshon at Vancouver Playhouse, 1998.

Atlantis by Maureen Hunter, directed by Glynis Leyshon at Vancouver Playhouse, 1998.

Sisters, directed by Donna Spencer at Firehall Theatre, Vancouver, November 97

Running Dog, Paper Tiger, directed by Bill Dow at Richmond Gateway Theatre, Oct 16- Nov 1st, 1997

Mom, Dad, I’m Living with a White Girl, a play by Marty Chan, directed by Donna Spencer, Firehall Theatre, Vancouver, 1996

Stella! Black & White: performance piece, Vancouver International Writers’ Festival, October ’95 w/ poet Blake Parker, vocalist Leora Cashe, percussionist Greg Kozak & Sal Ferreras’ Band

Donut City, a musical by Douglas Rodger and John Mills-Cockell, directed by Guy Sprung, Canadian Stage Company (nominated for Dora in Best New Musical category) 2nd staging directed by Robert Garfat, Impulse Theatre, Vancouver

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, numerous productions, (all different scores), directed by Henry Tarvainen, National Theatre School, Michael Mawson

Midsummer Night’s Dream, dir. R.H.Thompson, Dream in High Park, dir. Guy Sprung, Vancouver Playhouse & Dream in High Park, dir. Bryan Richmond, Magnus Theatre, Thunder Bay

Of The Fields, Lately, directed by Bill Glassco, Canadian Stage Co. for St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto

Death of a Salesman, directed by Guy Sprung, Stratford Shakespeare Festival

The Ten Thousand Year Old Woman, by Cheryl Cashman at The Theatre Centre in Toronto & Great Canadian TheatreCo., Ottawa, both directed by Cashman

Hamlet, directed by Guy Sprung, starring R.H. Thompson, Toronto Free Theatre

Victor Jara Alive!, written & directed by Ken Gass, Toronto Workshop Productions

Romeo and Juliet, directed by Guy Sprung, Dream in High Park staarring Paul Gross & David Ferry (2 productions)

City, written & directed by Cheryl Cashman, St. Paul’s Church, Toronto

Drums in the Night, directed by Henry Tarvainen, National Theatre School

Days of the Commune, directed by Joel Miller, National Theatre School

Winter Offensive, written & directed by Ken Gass, Factory Theatre Lab

Wozzeck, directed by Henry Tarvainen, National Theatre School and Adelaide Court Theatre

Terror, directed by Ken Gass, Hart House, University College, U of T

The Tempest, (2 productions) directed by Richard Greenblatt, Dream in High Park & directed by Bryan Richmond, Magnus Theatre, Thunder Bay

Doc, directed by Guy Sprung, Toronto Free Theatre; directed by Sharon Pollock, Theatre New Brunswick

Comedy of Errors, (2 productions) directed by Peter Hinton, Dream in High Park & directed by Guy Sprung, Dream in High Park

The Revolutionary Project, directed by Ken Gass, starring Mina E. Mina, Factory Theatre Lab

In the Jungle of Cities, directed by Guy Sprung, Toronto Free Theatre

The Changeling, directed by Guy Sprung, starring R. H. Thompson, Toronto Free Theatre

This Side of the Rockies, directed by Niel Munroe, Toronto Free Theatre

The Grace of Mary Travers, directed by Martha Henry, Toronto Free Theatre

Buchanan, directed by Brian Rintoul Toronto Free Theatre

Party Day, directed by Jack Winters, National Arts Centre in Ottawa , starring Jan Rubes

Terrorist Tropicale, a musical by John Mills-Cockell, directed by Ken Gass, Factory Theatre Lab and World Theatre Festival

The Legend of the Avro Arrow, directed by Guy Sprung, produced by National Art Centre and Canadian Stage Company for NAC & St. Lawrence Centre

Royal Hunt of the Sun, directed by Timothy Bond, Manitoba Theatre Centre

And When I Wake, directed by Brian Richmond, Magnus Theatre and Calgary Theatre Centre

The Forest, directed by Guy Sprung, Centre Stage Company for St. Lawrence Centre

The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon- Marigolds, directed by Henry Tarvainen for St. Lawrence Centre, Toronto

Memories for my Brother Pt II, directed by Henry Tarvainen by John Palmer for St. Lawrence Centre

Multimedia Performances with Intersystems (Michael Hayden, Blake Parker, Dick Zander & John Mills-Cockell) at Art Gallery of Ontario, Vancouver Art Gallery, Du Maurier Centre in Stratford. University of Illinois at Carbondale with Buckminster Fuller, and the American College Editors’ Conference in Washington DC. Duplex, at AGO, was billed as the ‘first live’ performance’ anywhere using an electronic music synthesizer, 1968.

Film & Television
49th and Main, pilot series for CBC TV drama series, directed by William B. Davis, produced by Bill Gray

Exchange, dramatic short starring Jay Brazeau, written and directed by William B. Davis

Packing Up, dramatic short, written and directed by William B. Davis, produced by Bonnie-Jean Mah

Reverse, dramatic short,written and directed by William B. Davis

The Art of Rainforests, documentary video by Richard Boyce

Belong, documentary film on Royal Winnipeg Ballet, score by Syrinx
The Little Vampire, 13 episode miniseries directed by Rene Bonniere for Bayereusche Rundfunk, ITV (U.K.), Allarcom (Canada), named best children’s dramatic series in U.K.

Terror Train, theatrical feature directed by Roger Spottiswood for Astral Films & 20th Century Fox (nominated for best musical score in Genies)

Half a Lifetime, 1 hour drama directed by Daniel Petry for Astral Films & HBO (nominated for best musical score in American Cable Awards)

Cities, 8 episode documentary series directed by John McGreevey, for Nielsen-Ferns

Humongous, theatrical feature directed by Paul Lynch, produced by Tony Krammreiter and Medallion Films

Moving Targets; 1 hour TV drama directed by John Trent for CBC-TV series For The Record

The Italians, 1 hour drama directed by Ren? Bonniere, part of The Newcomers produced by Nielsen Ferns/ Imperial Oil (winner of CFTA award for best music score)

Lord Beaverbrook, 2 hour documentary drama, directed by John Mcgreevey for CBC TV, winner of Anik award for best TV documentary

Challenge: the Canadian Rockies, 1 hour documentary directed by Peter Shatalow, Wacko Productions, winner of Banff Mountain Film Festival Award

Here Come the 701s (Toward the Year 2000): multi episode half hour public affairs series, directed by Phil Leiterman, produced by Hobel-Leiterman for CTV

Strikers’ Mountain, 2 hour drama directed by Peter Shatalow, Wacko Prod’s & CBC-TV

David, 30 min. T.V. drama directed by Bruce Pittman for Atlantis Films

Doris McCartney: Portait of a Painter, 1 hour drama directed by Peter Shatalow, Wacko Productions

Gonggashan (Shining Mountain), 1 hour drama directed by Peter Walsh, produced by Bill House for CTV

Stationary Ark and Ark on the Move, 2 x 13 episode half hour documentaries with Gerald Durrel, various directors for Nielsen-Ferns (winner of numerous media awards)

Black Ice, theatrical short, directed by Peter Shatalow, produced by Michael Savoie & National Film Board, winner of numerous international awards for short films

Deadly Harvest, theatrical feature directed by Timothy Bond, produced by Tony Krammreiter

Labour of Love, theatrical & TV feature directed by Ren? Bonni?re for Norflicks,

Eye of the Beholder, 90 min T.V. drama directed by Eric Till for CBC-TV

Carnivals, 2 hr documentary, directed by Martyn Burke, CBC-TV

Other People’s Children, 2 hour drama directed by Henry Tarvainen for CBC-TV

The Clown Murders, theatrical feature produced & directed by Martyn Burke

Dance
What to do Until the Messiah Comes, performed worldwide by Royal Winnipeg Ballet, also produced for CBC-TV with music performed live to tape by Syrinx

*Journey Tree, and *Chant for your Dragon King, Royal Canadian Ballet, choreograped by Timothy Spain for Frank Augustyn & Karen Kain

December Angel, (aka Starscape), choreographed by Peter Randazzo for Toronto Dance Theatre

Neon Accelerando, choreographed by Anna Wyman for the Anna Wyman Dance Company

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, and The Emperor & the Nightingale for Ontario Ballet Theatre, various choreographers

Radio (all CBC)
The Planet Earth Cafe one hour drama produced by John Juliani

Atlantis by Maureen Hunter directed by Glynis Leyshon, recorded live at Vancouver Playhouse

Man and Superman, 5 hour drama by George Bernard Shaw, produced by Bill Davis

Doc, 90 minute drama by Sharon Pollock, directed by Guy Sprung, produced by Heather Brown

King Lear, 3 hour drama by W. Shakespeare, starring John Colicos, produced by John Juliani

Hooray for Johnny Canuck, 5 episode miniseries written & produced by Ken Gass

Wacousta, 3 hour dramatic miniseries by John Richardson adapted by Douglas Rodger and Richard Donat, produced by Bill Howell

The Many Faces of Love, one hour collection of love poetry by Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy, produced by John Douglas

The Planet Earth Caf?, drama produced & directed by John Juliani

Marco, by J. Mills-Cockell, adapted by Ken Gass, a 2 ep musical miniseries, starring Brent Carver, on CBC
produced by Bill Laine

And I, Mayakowsky, biographical dramatization of the Russian poet produced by Jean Bartells

The Unnamed Planet, 4 x .5 hour science fiction comedies by Alf Silver, produced by Steven Katz

The Tempest, by William Shakespeare, produced by Henry Tarvainen

Awards
1989: ProCan award for “Outstanding Contribution to Music for Film”

1968: BMI student composers’ award (Fragments for Orchestra, Study for Bassoon, Prepared Piano and Magnetic Tape)

1969-91: awards & bursaries from Canada Council and Ontario Arts Council, including a senior artist’s grant and numerous commissions

Recordings
Concerto of Deliverance CD release on Sunburst Music A structure of seven movements in a personal odyssey. With guest artists Leora Cashe, mezzo; The Island Academy Singers, children’s choir under the direction of Thea Stavroff; Sharon Stanis, concert virtuoso and violinist with the Lafayette String Quartet; and distinguished clarinet soloist, Patricia Kostek.

Stella! Black & White: performance piece, Vancouver International Writers’ Festival, October ’95 w/ poet Blake Parker, vocalist Leora Cashe, percussionist Greg Kozak & Sal Ferreras’ Band

Do You Hear The Rushing River?: CD release on Kestrel Music of recent work produced with James Bowers Productions, November ’95

Free Psychedelic Poster Inside: CD release on Streamline of Intersystems’ 1968 lp

Peachy: CD release on Streamline of Intersystems’ 1967 lp with Blake Parker

8 other albums: Syrinx, Long Lost Relatives (Syrinx), Heartbeat, A Third Testament, all on True North (CBS),Gateway (Neon Accelerando in U.K.) and three early albums on Allied Records with Intersystems. Syrinx’ singleTillicum (Here Come The 70’s) was a #1 juke box hit in Canadian cities.

Arrangements and/or performances for recordings by Anne Murray (Capitol), Bruce Cockburn, Murray McLachlan(True North), Kensington Market (Warner Bros) & Felix Pappalardi (Warner)

Performances of commissioned compositions in Udo Kasemets’ New Music Series at the Isaacs Gallery in Toronto performed by Stuart Dempster, and Stringspace by Milton Barnes & The Toronto Repertory Orchestra.

Toured with rock bands Kensington Market (produced by Felix Pappalardi) & Syrinx who performed concerts withRavi Shankar, Miles Davis, Lighthouse, Chilliwack, Deep Purple, Bonnie Raitt & others.

Magic backup for Doug Henning‘s club performances in Ottawa & Toronto

Workshops in Toronto and Stratford for The Brass Ring, an opera, with libretto by Judith Rudakoff and music by JMC, directed by Richard Rose

Recorded in studios in England, U.S., and Denmark and all over Canada since 1967.

Education
Composition with Dr. Samuel Dolin at Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto (1967-68)

Taught electronic music with Dr. Samuel Dolin and Ann Southam at Royal Conservatory of Music, University of Toronto

gave special course in music production at Fanshawe College in London, Ont

piano with John Coveart at Royal Conservatory of Music, U of T (1964-1968)

graduate studies at Electronic Music Studio, Fac. of Music, U of T with Gustav Ciamaga (1967-68)

Faculty of Music, University of Toronto (1963-67)

Malvern Collegiate, Toronto (1959-63)[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]