Malcolm Forsyth

Malcolm Forsyth
Born (1936-12-08)December 8, 1936
Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
Died July 5, 2011(2011-07-05) (aged 74)
Edmonton, Alberta

Malcolm Forsyth, CM (December 8, 1936 – July 5, 2011) was a South African and Canadian trombonist and composer. His daughter is former National Arts Centre Orchestra principal cellist Amanda Forsyth.

Life and career

Image of several composers including Malcolm Forsyth during a performance of their music in April 2005
Composers Allan Gilliland, Malcolm Forsyth, Alan Gordon Bell, John Estacio, and Jeffrey McCune following the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra's performance of their music in April 2005

Forsyth was born in Pietermaritzburg,and educated at Maritzburg College South Africa. He studied trombone, conducting, and composition at the University of Cape Town from which he received a Bachelor of Music in 1963.

He played trombone with the Cape Town Symphony Orchestra while studying and receiving his Master of Music in 1966 and Doctorate of Music in 1969. In 1968, he emigrated to Canada and joined the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra with which he played bass trombone for 11 years. He was a Professor of Music at the University of Alberta for 34 years. He was appointed Composer-In-Residence in 1996 and remained so until the time of his retirement in 2002.

In 1970, he wrote Sketches from Natal for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Some of his other works include Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1979), Sagittarius (1975), Quinquefid (1976), African Ode (Symphony No. 3) (1981), and Atayoskewin (Suite for Orchestra) (1984), which won the Juno Award for Classical Composition of the Year in 1987.

Death

Forsyth died on July 5, 2011, aged 74, from pancreatic cancer.

Honours

In 1989, he was named Canadian Composer of the Year.

In 2003, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

Sources

(An hour-long radio interview with Forsyth in 2008)

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