Bruce Edward Holder Sr. (January 8, 1905 – August 27, 1987) was a Canadian composer, conductor,[1] and violinist.[2][3] He helped to conduct, teach, and found many music groups, including Symphony New Brunswick,[4] the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra,[5] and the Third Field Artillery Band,[6] which earned him his nickname, Mr. Music of Saint John.
Early life and education edit
Holder was born in Saint John, New Brunswick.[5] He took violin lessons as a child, and later studied conducting in Hancock, Maine, under Pierre Monteaux.[7]
Career edit
Holder worked at the Ocean Steel and Construction Company.[8] In 1948 Holder was a volunteer with the Saint John Salvage Corps.[6] For fifteen years, beginning in the 1940s, he led the CBC Radio orchestra for the programs Holiday for Strings, Music Styled for Strings, and Fanfare.[7][9] 1945 he opened a record store in Saint John.[7] In 1950 Holder became first violinist of the Saint John Symphony Orchestra.[10]
In 1957 he began teaching music at Saint John Vocational School, and in 1967 he was assistant conductor of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra.[11]
References edit
- ^ Li Robbins (October 2005). Don Messer's Violin: Canada's Fiddle. Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Societe Radio-Canada. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-660-19489-9.
- ^ New Brunswick Museum (1943). Annual Report. p. 24.
- ^ The Canadian Railway Employees' Monthly: 1935-1936. Vol. 21–22. Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees. 1935. p. 72.
- ^ "End of an era". The Tribune. Sep 2, 2014.
- ^ a b "New Brunswick Youth Orchestra". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
- ^ a b Lee Windsor; Roger Sarty; Marc Milner (15 September 2016). Loyal Gunners: 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (The Loyal Company) and the History of New Brunswick's Artillery, 1893-2012. Wilfrid Laurier University Press. p. 459. ISBN 978-1-77112-256-6.
- ^ a b c Faye Somers (2001). Saint John Vocational School: In Retrospect. DreamCatcher Publishing. p. 96. ISBN 978-1-894372-14-5.
- ^ "One of Our Own" Archived 2018-04-13 at the Wayback Machine. Newsletter of the Royal United Services Institute of New Brunswick. 2017-02-07.
- ^ Canadian National Magazine. Canadian National Railways. 1937. p. 93.
- ^ "Dealer Doings" Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 25 November 1950. p. 24. ISSN 0006-2510.
- ^ MusiCanada. Vol. 1–23, Issues 25-26, Issue 29. The Centre. 1967. p. 15.