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Michael Murakami was born July 7, 1943 in Kaslo, B.C. His mother, Aiko Murakami (nee. Kondo) was born in Steveston, B.C. in 1917, and grew up in Victoria, B.C. after the Kondo family moved to the area in 1918. Michael’s father, David Masawo Murakami, was born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1917.

The Kondo family began their life in Canada when Shinjiro Kondo, a fish broker, traveled to Victoria in 1900 from Wakayama, Japan. He began work as a fisherman in Steveston, and in 1908 he sponsored Kinu to come to Canada to join him as his wife. Together they had five children, Tohachiro also known as Toki (1909), Matsuye (1910), Fusako (1912), Eichi (1914), Aiko (1917), and a sixth after moving to Victoria, Fumiko also known as Finks (1921).

In Victoria, Shinjiro began again as a fish broker, selling to Chinese restaurants in the area. He also spent his time volunteering for the Japanese Language school and became a Buddhist lay minister. Kinu who was trained as a dressmaker made children’s clothes, adding to the family’s income. The family was close to the Shimizus, who owned a rice mill, and Aiko became close to their daughter. Aiko was encouraged to finish highschool and eventually went into bookkeeping. She was an active member of the Japanese Canadian Citizen League and participated in their conventions with her brother Eichi. Like many women at the time, Aiko worked as a domestic and eventually took up dressmaking. Through these career choices she was able to move to Vancouver and attend Marietta’s School of Costume Design.

David Murakami was the youngest of three siblings. His parents had emigrated from the Yamaguchi prefecture, Japan and had settled in Vancouver across the street from Hastings Park. David worked as a fisherman, along the Skeena River. He held Captain’s papers and also worked as a skipper.

Aiko and David met at a New Years Eve party in 1941, and on May 7, 1942, they married at the Powell Street Japanese United Church. Eiko Henmi was the maid of honour, with Thomas Shoyama as the best man. Their courtship was in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor, and so the couple were quickly sent to Kaslo, B.C. only 10 days after getting married.

The newlyweds joined many other Japanese Canadians who were also forcibly uprooted and moved to the interior of B.C. David worked as a truck driver for the B.C. Securities Commission and Aiko worked in the local Commission office. David was also named the official photographer in the Kalso internment camp by the B.C. Securities Commission, an important title as cameras had been forbidden to Japanese Canadians. In 1943, their son Michael was born. By 1944 the family moved to New Denver for David’s health. New Denver, B.C. had a recent sanitorium built for interned Japanese Canadians. It was often called “The San”. In New Denver, Aiko began teaching at the New Denver Orchard internment camp school, the elementary school for Japanese Canadians, and when they left in February 1947, she had been appointed principal.

The family eventually moved to Hamilton, then Toronto, ON. Aiko began to work as a secretary for Mitsui’s Canadian office and David became a watchmaker. David served on the board for the Watchmakers Association of Ontario for many years. During her free time, Aiko volunteered for the Toronto Nisei Women’s Club, and also served as president.

During the 1980s both Aiko and David were active in the Redress movement. Both marched on Parliament Hill in April 1988. On September 22, 1988, it was Aiko who ensured the Japanese flag was removed at Westbury Hotel after someone wrongfully included it along with the Canadian flag. In 1988 Aiko and David moved to Edmonton to be with their son Michael and his family. They both continued their work with the Redress movement, helping to organize Edmonton’s celebrations for the monumental victory. Aiko also served as the regional Redress Coordinator in the area.

David Murakami passed away in Edmonton, A.B. in 1992. Aiko Murakami passed away in Toronto, O.N. in 2020.

Thomas Kunito Shoyama was born in Kamloops, B.C., on September 24, 1916. His parents had immigrated to Canada from Kumamoto-ken, Japan and upon settling in B.C. eventually had six children. After completing high school, Shoyama went to study at UBC in Vancouver, earning combined degrees in Arts and Commerce in 1938. He soon began work with Edward Ouchi and Shinobu Higashi to publish The New Canadian, then a weekly newspaper for Japanese Canadians. He worked as publisher and editor of the newspaper as it moved to Kaslo, B.C. during WWII when Japanese Canadians were being removed from the coast. In 1945, Shoyama left The New Canadian to join the S-20 unit of the Intelligence Corps of the Canadian Army. He was one of the first people of Japanese descent to be allowed to join the Canadian Army during WWII, and he worked to learn Japanese during this time. His time in the military was short, leaving in 1946.

The same year, he was hired by the Economic and Advisory Planning Board (EAPB), an arm of the government of Saskatchewan. Shoyama left Saskatchewan briefly from 1948-1949 to attend graduate studies at McGill University, but soon returned to the prairies to work for Tommy Douglas and the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF). While in Saskatchewan, Shoyama began to grow his family life, marrying Lorna Moore late in 1950, with whom he had a daughter in 1956. He continued to work for the EAPB until 1964 when he moved to Ottawa to be a senior economist for the Economic Council of Canada. Shoyama held many prominent positions in Ottawa, including Assistant Deputy Minister for the Department of Finance, Deputy Minister in the Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, and Deputy Minister of Finance. In 1979 he briefly became Special Advisor to the Prime Minister on Constitutional Matters and Chairman of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. He resigned from both positions the same year to accept a teaching position at the University of Victoria.

Throughout his career, Shoyama has been the recipient of many awards recognizing his work both for Japanese Canadians, and the broader Canadian public. These awards include: Officer of the Order of Canada (1978), the Outstanding Achievement Award in the Public Service of Canada (1982), the Vanier Medal from the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (1982) and the Order of the Sacred Treasure from the Government of Japan (1992).

George Tanaka was born in Vancouver, B.C. in 1912. After high school he began working with Mr. Moritsugu in 1920 as a gardener, and studied architecture and landscaping on his own.

After Pearl Harbor, he was sent to a sugar beet farm near Tilbury, O.N., then moved to Toronto, working in electronics. In 1943, he with other Japanese Canadians founded the Japanese Canadian Committee for Democracy (JCCD). At the tail end of the war when Japanese Canadians were allowed to join the army, he served with the Canadian Armed Forces. He also took part in the National Japanese Canadian Citizens Association (NJCCA, now the National Association of Japanese Canadians) as national executive secretary from 1947 to 1953.

In 1955 Tanaka began his own landscape practice in Ontario. From there his career quickly grew. He was elected vice-president of the Ontario Association of Landscape Architects (OALA), serving from 1967 to 1970. Tanaka received awards for his work in landscaping, winning two of the top Excellence in Design Awards at the first national competition of the Canadian Society of Landscape Architects (CLSA) in 1969. He then joined the board of the CSLA in 1972 as secretary, and was elected a Fellow of the Society in 1975.

Throughout his successful career, Tanaka continued to advocate for Japanese Canadians. He was a founding member of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC). He and his wife Cana tragically passed away in a car accident in 1982.

Masaji George Tokiwa was born in Kagoshima Prefecture, Japan, February 5, 1898. He moved to Canada with his brother Tsunesuke Tokiwa (1891-[1971]) in 1917, settling in Ocean Falls, B.C. He worked in the lumber industry there but soon went to Vancouver to receive his Barber License. Around this time Masaji returned to Japan to marry Hiroko (Hiro) Alice Tokiwa (1902-1970), bringing her Canada. Both were from farming families and both had received education, Masaji had completed highschool, Hiro completing middle school. He returned to Ocean Falls where he became a prominent member of the Japanese Canadian community.

At the time, the workers at the sawmill in Ocean Falls were almost all Japanese Canadian single men. The Tokiwa family were one of the first to settle there as a family. Masaji and Hiro had four children: Helen Sachiye Tokiwa (1925-2014), Paul Yoshiharu Tokiwa (1927- 1994), Samuel Mitsuo Tokiwa (1929-2014), and Lily Yasue (nee. Tokiwa) Gibson (1932- ). Though the town was segregated, Masaji was respected by both the Japanese Canadians and the white settlers. He worked as one of the three barbers there. No longer working in the sawmill, many of the men there came to Masaji to discuss their problems. As he interacted with all the men in the mill by cutting their hair, he became a leader figure and helped many of the men out with their problems.

When the province of British Columbia began to forcibly remove Japanese Canadians from the coast, Tokiwa decided to move to Kelowna with his family to work on a farm. The government quickly pushed against this decision and Hiro and the two girls moved to Vancouver to stay with an Aunt, leaving Masaji to work on the farm himself. Previous to the war, both sons had been sent to Japan for education. Masaji was concerned that if they were to stay in Canada, they would not receive adequate education due to discrimination against those of Japanese descent. Masaji and Hiro had planned to eventually retire to Japan, but the war completely upturned this. In Vancouver, Hiro, Helen, and Lily were moved to Hasting Park. From there they then went to live in Tashme, B.C.

The family was told Masaji could rejoin them if they all moved out of the province. With the help of a Minister in Tashme, the Tokiwa’s reunited in Beamsville, O.N. to work on the Prudhomme’s farm in November of 1942. They were one of the first Japanese Canadian families to be sent there. Both Lily and Helen were musically inclined and continued their studies there. Helen practiced the piano and organ at the local Church, and Lily sang in school recitals. Masaji’s leadership and intelligence was quickly perceived and the Prudhomme’s soon moved him to work in their greenhouse instead of the farm fields. Tokiwa was a strong believer in education and began to search for a new home for the family that would have more education opportunities for his eldest, Helen.

In 1948, the family moved to Toronto, O.N. The brothers, who were in Japan during the war, returned to Canada to join the family in 1950. In Toronto, Masaji took up the business of barber again and quickly grew a loyal customer base. Hiro worked in a garment factory along Spadina Ave. for a few years, Lily went into nursing, and Helen began to train at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

Even in Toronto, Masaji continued to be a leader for the Japanese Canadian community. He is noted to have been a fantastic speech maker and was an integral member in the creation of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC). He was an elder in the church. The family had converted to Christianity early in their time in B.C., and continued to practice in Toronto, following Rev. Shimizu. After the passing of Masaji in 1978, his son Paul took over his spot on the board of the JCCC.

The Greater Toronto Chapter of the National Association of Japanese Canadians has its history stemming from the National Japanese Canadian Citizens Association (NJCCA). Founded in 1947 by Roger Obata and other nisei leaders, the NJCCA was the first national organization by Japanese Canadians. Japanese Canadians were still disenfranchised and facing injustice from the unlawful dispossession of the community. In April 1980, the NJCCA changed their name to the NAJC, though many chapters, including the Toronto chapter kept NJCCA in their name.

1977 marked the centennial of the fist issei, Nagano Manzo, arriving in Canada. This large community celebration brought many Japanese Canadians together, and informal discussion of redress began. By the early 80s, friction between members in the Toronto JCCA began and stemmed from whether redress should include individual compensation, representing the huge loss of assets and work during the internment. Many members of the Toronto JCCA felt that the Toronto chapter was not representing the views of the majority, nor aligned with the NAJC on the national level. To protest this, members created the North York Chapter of the NAJC, which later would be renamed to the Greater Toronto NAJC, headed by Wes Fujiwara. Between 1983 and 1984, the nonpartisan group Sodan-Kai helped bring together and facilitate discussions between the Toronto JCCA and those who believed redress should include recognition of individual loss. In their efforts to seek redress, the NAJC had the Price Waterhouse Associates assess the loss endured by the Japanese Canadian community from the internment. This was calculated to income and property losses at not less than $443 million in 1986 dollar. The Greater Toronto NAJC organized and led many demonstrations demanding the Canadian government recognize their racist actions towards the Japanese Canadians and offer redress. These demonstrations include the Ottawa rally in April 1980 where many prominent members of the Japanese Canadian community met with Minister of State for Multiculturalism Gerry Weiner, opening up the discussion for redress.

On September 22, 1988, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney announces a Redress Settlement negotiated between the National Association of Japanese Canadians and the federal government. The Redress Settlement acknowledged injustices against Japanese Canadians during and after World War II, provide a payment of $21,000 to all Japanese Canadians affected by the provisions of the War Measures Act, expunge criminal records of those charged with offenses stemming from violation of provisions of the War Measures Act, re-instate citizenship of those exiled to Japan, establish a $12million community fund to help rebuild community infrastructure, and provide $24million to establish the Canadian Race Relations Foundation

Toronto became the Eastern Regional Office for the Redress Advisory and Assistance Committee, aiding field workers as they intern aided members of the Japanese Canadian community complete their redress forms. The Eastern Regional Office also worked with members of the community re-apply or appeal unsatisfactory decisions regarding their Redress applications.

After winning the battle for Redress, the Greater Toronto chapter of the NAJC continues to seek justice and support marginalized communities who have faced discrimination from the Canadian government and elsewhere.

Kathleen Pole Irwin was born on November 23, 1902 in York, Ontario to Charles Irwin and Anna M. Warren. She attended the University of Toronto in the early 1920s and received a Bachelor of Music degree. After graduating, she performed in a two-piano duo with Winnifred Mazzoleni. The duo toured throughout Canada and the United States in the 1930s. She also performed with violinist Florence Richardson and in another two-piano duo Winifred MacMillan. Irwin stopped performing after her marriage in 1939 to Dalton Constright Wells (1900-1982), with a few exceptions. She joined the Women's Musical Club of Toronto (WMC) in 1946 and served in various executive positions, including as President (1955-1957). She retired from WMC in 1964. She passed away on February 16, 1990.

Edward Epstein, an ex-New Yorker, has been active on the Toronto music scene since 1983. He was the owner, curator, and music programmer of Gallery 345, an art gallery and performance space at 345 Sorauren Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, which opened in 2005 and closed in 2019 when the building was sold.

Robert (Bob) Hunter, born 1941 in St. Boniface, Manitoba, was a prominent journalist, writer, and environmentalist. Hunter wrote for the Winnipeg Tribune, Vancouver Sun, Eye Weekly, and others, and was broadcast for many years on Citytv. In 1969, he was a member of the Don’t Make A Wave Committee, protesting nuclear testing in Alaska. This work evolved into the organization Greenpeace, of which he was a co-founder in 1971, and its first president from 1973 to 1977. Hunter authored 13 books over his career, winning the 1991 Governor General’s Award for Occupied Canada: A Young White Man Discovers His Unsuspected Past (with Robert Calihoo). He also wrote television scripts for The Beachcombers and Danger Bay, and was a member of the inaugural class of residents at the Canadian Film Centre. In 2001, he ran for the Ontario Liberal Party. Hunter died in Toronto in 2005.

Sources:
Hall, Joseph. "'Eco-Hero' Hunter Dead at 63.” Toronto Star, May 3, 2005.

Weber, Terry. “Bob Hunter, Environmentalist And Writer 1941-2005.” The Globe and Mail, May 3, 2005.

Mika Fukuma was born and raised in Toronto. She speaks both English and Japanese. Fukuma has worked for the Nikkei Voice from 2005 to 2012. She is the Vice-President of the Toronto Fukuoka Kenjinkai, and currently sits as a director for the Greater Toronto Chapter of the National Association of Japanese Canadians.

Robert Falck was born September 14, 1937 in Silver Spring, Maryland. He studied musicology at Brandeis University and in Göttingen as a Fulbright fellow. Falck moved to Toronto in 1967 to accept a teaching position at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. He served twice as Acting Dean (1981, 1995-6) and once as Associate Dean (1979-83), during his more than thirty years (1968-2003) at the Faculty of Music. He supervised over a dozen PhD dissertations, and many of his students are teaching at universities all over the country. Early in his career he published articles, books and dictionary/encyclopedia articles in the field of medieval music, focusing on polyphonic and monophonic music of the 12th and 13th centuries. In more recent years his research and publication interest shifted to the twentieth century, and he produced a number of published and some unpublished papers especially on Arnold Schoenberg, but also on Alban Berg, Anton Webern and Stefan Wolpe. His teaching largely reflected those diverse interests, but in 1970 he was also the first to teach a course on jazz at this university and probably in all of Canada.

Falck passed away in Toronto, Ontario on December 2, 2023 at the age of 86.

Shigeuki Edward Yoshida was born May 16, 1908 in Victoria, B.C (d. 2004). As a child he grew up in Chemainus, B.C. and became very interested in the Boy Scouts of America. He became a Lone Scout and quickly climbed the ranks. In 1925 he began the first Japanese Canadian troupe, unique to Canada and the British Empire at the time. He went on to work as a truck driver and insurance agent for Victoria Lumber & Manufacturer Co. in Chemainus, B.C. Edward Shige married Sumiko Yoshida (nee Takahashi), who was born March 16, 1915 in Canada (d. 2013). They would have four children together.

In 1942, the family were forcibly uprooted from Chemainus and sent to Hasting Park, Vancouver, B.C. From there they went to Tashme, B.C. Edward Shige Yoshida has been remembered for his time during Japanese Canadian internment and his forming of the first Boy Scouts group in Tashme, B.C. The popularity and success of this group, led to Yoshida aiding the formation of the Girl Guides group at Tashme as well. The Scouts group at its peak included about 200 boys and was well recognized within the Scouting community. In 1946, the Yoshida family moved east, eventually settling in Ontario.

Pete White (sometimes credited as Peter White) was born in Kaslo, British Columbia in 1946. White lived in Kaslo until 1954, until his mother remarried. White’s stepfather was a miner, and the family moved around a series of mining camps, ending up in Elliot Lake, Ontario. White attended high school in Elliot Lake, and then went on to work as a miner while writing poetry in his spare time.
In the late 1960s, White moved to Edmonton, where he met the English singer and guitar player Paul Hann. The pair bonded over music, and White’s focus shifted from poetry to song-writing. White wrote or co-wrote many of Hann’s songs, while also managing and promoting Hann’s career. Ultimately, White’s songs appeared on several of Hann’s albums, including “A Fine White Thread” (1973), “Another Tumbleweed”(1975), “Paul Hann” (1977), “High Test” (1979), and “Hometown Hero” (1980).
White and Hann also composed music for film and television soundtracks together, including the theme to the program “Come Alive” for Access Alberta. While working on the score of this show, White was offered the opportunity to write television scripts. White accepted, and left the music business in order to pursue a career in writing for film and television. In 1977, He formed a production company, Kicking Horse Productions with friend Avri Liimatainen. Over the next several years, White worked to master the craft of writing for film and television, and left Kicking Horse in the early 1980s to pursue writing on a more fulltime basis.
Throughout the 80s and 90s, White served as a writer on television shows such as “The Beachcombers,” (1982-1990), “Danger Bay,” (1983-1990), “Northwood,” (1991-1992) and “Da Vinci’s Inquest” (2003-2004). He was also the screenwriter of the television movies “Striker’s Mountain” (1985) “The Legend of the Ruby Silver” (1996) and “Peacekeepers” (1997), all three of which earned White earned Gemini nominations for Best Writing in a Dramatic Program or Series. White went on to receive the Writer’s Guild of Canada Top Ten Awards for “Ruby Silver” and “Peacekeepers.” White received the Margaret Collier Award, a lifetime achievement award, at the 2006 Gemini Awards for his outstanding body of work in film and television writing.
At the same time, White became a key player in working to protect the rights and interests of Canadian screenwriters. White was president of the ACTRA Writers Guild from 1986-1988. When the writer’s split from ACTRA in 1991 and formed the independent Writers Guild of Canada (WGC), White served as VP representing the Pacific Region of the Guild. White then served as the president of the WGC from 1994-2003. Under White’s leadership, the WGC helped to establish the Telefilm Canada Screenwriting Assistance Program, which funded writers directly through the screenplay development stage. White was also instrumental in bringing story editors, story consultants, and animation writers under the Independent Production Agreement (IPA) with the Canadian Film and Television Producers Association (CFTPA, now the Canadian Media Producers Association, or CMPA). In 2004, White received the Writers Guild of Canada’s Writer’s Block Award, in recognition of his service to Canadian screenwriters.
White currently lives in British Columbia. He has an avid interested in military history and Canadian history, and was a member of the Kootenay Lake Historical Society. He has published a historical non-fiction novel, “Crimea Sabre” (2015) and is working on his memoirs.

Richard Flohil (born 1934, Yorkshire, UK) is a Canadian music promoter, publicist, and journalist. He is also a former artistic director of the Mariposa Folk Festival.
Flohil began his career in journalism at the Evening Press in York, England. He eventually became chief reporter at the Selby Gazette and Herald. Flohil also worked in publicity – his first client being the future composer of the “James Bond” theme, John Barry. His interest in jazz and blues eventually brought him to North America. He moved to Toronto in 1957, where he worked as an editor and freelancer for various trade publications and explored the city’s burgeoning music scene. Working as a concert promoter in the late 50s and early 60s, Flohil was involved in some of the first appearances in Canada of major blues artists such as Sleepy John Estes, Muddy Waters, Bobby Bland, and Buddy Guy.
In 1965, Flohil became an advisor on blues programming for the Mariposa Folk Music Festival. His role with the festival expanded to include stage hosting and conducting on-stage interviews. He eventually became the publicist for the festival and authored several of its programmes over the years. In the 1980s, he became the festival’s artistic director, introducing audiences to artists such as Ani DiFranco, Moxy Fruvous, and the Barenaked Ladies. Flohil has also served as an MC and workshop host at folk festivals across Canada, including the Edmonton Folk Festival, the Calgary Folk Music Festival, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, and the Hillside Festival.
At the same time, Folhil built a career in journalism as well as publicity. In 1970, he became the editor of “The Canadian Composer” (a role he held until 1993). Flohil would go on to co-found the weekly trade publication “The Record”. Flohil also contributed to such publications as FYI Music News, Roots Music Canada, and The Sound Café.
It was also in 1970 that Flohil started his publicity and promotions company, Richard Flohil and Associates. Over the years, he helped to launch the music careers of artists like k.d. lang, Loreena McKennitt, Shakura S’Aida, Serena Ryder, and the Downchild Blues Band. Flohil’s publicity clients have also included Ian Tyson, Long John Baldry, The Crash Test Dummies, and Stony Plain Records.
Flohil is the winner of several awards, including a Casby Music Award Special Achievement Award, a SOCAN Special Achievement Award, and is a member of the Mariposa Folk Festival Hall of Fame.

Lorraine Segato, CM (b. 1956) is a musician, songwriter, filmmaker, event producer and social justice activist. Born in Hamilton, Ontario in 1956, Segato became interested in music at a young age, and started playing guitar at the age of 11. Her first gig was at her own high school graduation from Sir Allan MacNab Secondary School. After high school, Segato attended Sheridan College from 1974-1976, majoring in film while also studying audio recording and engineering.
Segato moved to Toronto in 1978 and became the vocalist for the radical feminist rock band, Mama Quilla II. The band played various rallies and benefit concerts and appeared regularly at venues such as the Horseshoe Tavern, the El Mocambo, and Cameron House. While playing with Mama Quilla II, Segato also joined the world-music infused band V alongside Mama Quilla II drummer Billy Bryans.
In 1982, Bryans was approached by the organizers of the Toronto International Film Festival to perform at the festival. Bryans agreed, but there were scheduling conflicts with the members of Mama Quilla II and V, so Segato and Bryans formed The Parachute Club to play the gig. The new band - featuring Segato on vocals, Lauri Conger on keyboards and vocals, Julie Masi on percussion, Margo Davidson on saxophone, Steve Webster and David Gray on guitar, and Bryans on drums – was an overnight success. The band was signed by Current Records shortly after their performance, and on July 11, 1983 they released their self-titled debut album.
The lead single from the first record was “Rise Up”. Written by Segato, Bryans, Conger, and Lynne Fernie and produced by Daniel Lanois, the song was a positive call for peace, freedom, and social change that resonated powerfully with listeners. The Parachute Club first performed the song at the Toronto Pride Parade in 1983, and the parade attendees embraced the song with so much enthusiasm that they rushed the stage. The song became an anthem at various times for gay rights, feminism, anti-racism, as well as the New Democratic Party. It was also a major hit for the group, reaching number 9 on the Canadian RPM 50 singles charts, and number 26 on the Billboard Dance Music/Club Play Singles charts. It also won a Juno Award for Single of the Year in 1984, while The Parachute Club won a Juno for Most Promising Group of the Year that same year.
Following personnel changes (Steve Webster left the band and was replaced by Keir Brownstone), The Parachute Club released their next album, “At the Feet of the Moon” in 1984. The title track becoming another Canadian Top 40 hit. In 1985, the group received both the Juno Award and CASBY Award for Group of the Year. That same year, the released a limited edition EP, “Moving Thru' The Moonlight”, which featured dance remixes of some of their most popular songs.
The band followed up this success with the album “Small Victories”, in 1986, which spawned the group’s third Canadian Top 40 hit, “Love is Fire” with guest vocals by John Oates of the group Hall & Oates. This single earned the band another Juno Award for Video of the Year in 1987. That year, both Julie Masi and Lauri Conger left the band. The remaining group members released a single in 1988, “Big Big World” in support of activists hoping to halt a clear-cutting campaign in the Stein Valley in British Columbia. The Parachute Club officially disbanded in 1989, with former members going on to pursue other careers and projects. Over the years, the Parachute Club reunited occasionally with various lineups. Founding members Margo Davidson and Billy Bryans passed away in 2008 and 2012 respectively.
After The Parachute Club broke up, Segato focused on a solo music career. Her first solo record, “Phoenix” was released in 1990, followed by “Luminous City” in 1998 and “Invincible Decency” in 2015.
“Phoenix” also gave Segato more opportunities to explore her interests in filmmaking. Before her solo debut, Segato had co-directed a short film, “Worth Every Minute” (1987), and served as a creative contributor on several of The Parachute Club’s music videos. For “Phoenix,” Segato stepped into the co-director role for her music videos, including “Givin’ It All We Got” and “Don’t Give it Away.” Segato also directed the music video for “Good Medicine”, which doubled as a national drug and alcohol awareness campaign video for the Canadian Auto Workers.
Segato continued to work in film, directing, writing, and producing “QSW: The Rebel Zone” (2001), a documentary about the thriving music and art scene of Toronto’s Queen Street West in the late 70s and early 80s. In 2015, she worked with filmmaker Shelley Saywell on the documentary film “Lowdown Tracks.” She has also worked as a composer for film and television on projects such as CTV’s “National Drug Test,” (1988) Lynne Fernie’s film “Apples and Oranges” (2003) and “Status Quo: The Unfinished Business of Feminism in Canada” (2012). And, as an actor, Segato appeared in the short film “Heart Songs” (1992) and the comedic documentary “The pINCO Triangle” (1999).
Segato has also worked as a writer, contributing articles to publications such as “NOW” and “Xtra”, as well as a chapter in the anthology book “Shakin’ All Over: The Rock N' Roll Years in the U.S. and Canada.”
Never far from her activist roots, Segato has also continued to uplift voices for social change. In 2003, Alongside Lynne Fernie, Segato wrote a campaign song for Jack Layton. As an event producer, Segato has worked on the Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards, “House Party,” a benefit concert for the homeless in Toronto, and “Hope Rising”, a benefit concert for the Stephen Lewis Foundation. As the Regent Park Artist in Residency, Segato produced a series of concerts entitled “Wild Women Don’t Get the Blues” to promote established and emerging female artists. “Rise Up” has also continued to be a rallying cry. In 2011, Segato performed a rendition of the song at the state funeral of Jack Layton. A remix of the song was also released in 2014 to coincide with WorldPride in Toronto. And in 2019, Segato released another new version of the song with the New Parachute Collective to raise funds for the “RiseUp Share Your Power Initiative,” a mentorship program pairing newer artists with more experienced ones.
Lorraine Segato was named to the Order of Canada in 2022. She was also recently shortlisted for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2023 City of Hamilton Arts Awards. In 2023, the Parachute Club was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame.

Rhena Robson (nee Kendrick) was a Victoria University graduate, class of 1923, and gold medalist. Robson continued her education at Bryn Mawr and the University of Chicago before returning to Toronto to teach in Classics at Victoria. Rhena married Donald Robson in 1931.

Awards won as a graduating student in 1923:
Governor-General's Gold Medal
The Edward Wilson Gold Medal in Classics

Teaching Positions held at Victoria:
Instructor in Ancient History, 1928-1929
Lecturer in Classics, 1929-1931

DO Robson was a respected Professor of Classics, born in Fenelon Falls, Ontario and raised there and in Toronto. He completed his undergraduate degree at Victoria in 1928, winning the Edward Wilson Gold Medal in Classics. Upon graduation he was named a Fellow and continued with his education, earning his MA in 1929 and PhD in 1932 (his thesis was "The Samnites in the Po Valley").

Robson taught at Western for seventeen years before returning as an Associate Professor of Latin at Victoria in 1947. He retired in 1975. Robson was not known for publishing, but instead believed that his most important function was teaching. In 1971, when he retired as Chairman of the Department of Classics, he said, "The greatest reward a teacher can reap is the love and trust of his colleagues and students."

Generous to Victoria, Robson made many financial donations to the University. In 1931, Robson married Rhena Victoria Kendrick, also a Victoria graduate.

Victoria University Positions Held:
Fellow in Classics 1928-1930
Associate Professor of Latin 1947-1956
Professor of Latin 1956-1960
Professor of Latin; Chairman of Department of Classics 1960-1971
Professor of Latin 1971-1975
Professor Emeritus of Classics 1975

Chairperson, Governing Council, University of Toronto (1976-1980)

Blissymbolics Communication International (BCI) was established in 1975, originally as Blissymbolics Communication Foundation (BCF). BCI is a non-profit organization with the worldwide authority, “to publish, teach and disseminate Blissymbols in any manner whatsoever for use by handicapped persons and persons having communication, language and learning difficulties.” (Legal agreement with C.K. Bliss, 1982).

Blissymbolics is an augmentative communication language, derived from an international semantic language developed in the 1940s by Charles K. Bliss (1897-1985), published in his book Semantography – Blissymbolics (1965). The language uses pictographic and ideographic symbols to convey meaning, with symbols representing specific words or concepts.

In 1971, Shirley McNaughton (1931—) within a clinical team working with children with cerebral palsy at the then Ontario Crippled Children's Centre (OCCC) – now the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital – discovered the work of Bliss in a book called Signs and Symbols Around the World by Elizabeth Helfman (1967). The team was able to acquire Semantography which detailed the use of Blissymbolics as an international language. Then, the team introduced Blissymbols as a communication method for non-speaking students at the OCCC.

After the successful response to Blissymbolics in OCCC classrooms, the Blissymbol program was formalized as an OCCC service called Blissymbolics Communication Service (BCS) in 1975. This program gained international recognition as a breakthrough for persons who were non-speaking. The BCS was later renamed to Augmentative Communication Service (ACS) in the 1980s with a broader communication mandate, and was supported by the Easter Seal Society (ESS) until 1991, when the ESS program was closed. This augmentative communication service then became a program of Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital.

Blissymbolics programs have had many name changes through the decades. In 1975, BCI was established as the Blissymbolics Communication Foundation in order to separate the international administrative work of Blissymbolics from the services provided by the BCS. In 1980, BCF was renamed to Blissymbolics Communication Institute to clarify that the organization was not a foundation giving out grants. In 1987, the program was renamed to the Easter Seal Communication Institute (ESCI) to recognize the primary financial supporter of Bliss services, the Easter Seal Society. In 1994, the organization was renamed to Blissymbolics Communication International to recognize its primary mandate. In 2009, a process began in order to enable the Sweden Bliss organization to take on the international responsibilities. This agreement was completed in 2011, and the Sweden organization assumed the name, Blissymbolics Communication International, and acquired the worldwide authority to publish, teach and disseminate Blissymbols. The Canadian organization adopted the trade name of Blissymbolics Communication Institute – Canada (BCIC) in 2009, changing from its international mandate to providing resources and support for the Bliss community in Canada. Today, BCIC continues to support Bliss users and alumni.

Captain Norman W. Borring was among the liberators of the Laufen Concentration Camp, 5 May 1945.

Sir Byron Edmund Walker was a Canadian banker, art collector and philanthropist, president of the Canadian Bank of Commerce, co-founder of National Art Gallery of Canada, Art Museum of Toronto, Royal Ontario Museum, Champlain Society, and Chancellor of the University of Toronto.

The University of Toronto's Faculty of Information (iSchool) was established in 1928 as Ontario's first formal library school with a full-year academic program in Library Science within the Ontario College of Education. In 1965, the department separated from the Ontario College of Education and became the School of Library Science. In 1972 the School of Library Science attained Faculty status, and became the Faculty of Library Science (FLS). In 1982, the Faculty was renamed the Faculty of Library and Information Studies (FLIS) and in 1994 became the Faculty of Information Studies (FIS). Finally, in 2008, FIS became the Faculty of Information, the iSchool at the University of Toronto. The name change reflects its closer alignment with the iSchool movement. Additional information on the Faculty's history, including a timeline, can be found here - https://ischool.utoronto.ca/about-us/legacy-of-excellence/

Jocelyn Motyer Raymond (1930-2007) was an educator and researcher at University of Toronto's Institute for Child Study (ICS). Born in Bermuda, Raymond first came to Canada in 1946 to study at McMaster University. She studied at Ontario College of Education from 1952-1954, then went on to teach at the Institute for Child Study between 1954-1964, working closely with Dr. William E. Blatz, Margaret Fletcher, Mary Northway, Gerry Leroux, and other key scholars in the burgeoning field of child study. During this time, she also wrote a weekly column for The Globe and Mail entitled "Living with Children." Raymond received her M.A. in Education from Dalhousie University, and later taught at the Faculty of Education, Mount Saint Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. There, she helped found the university's Early Childhood Education Department, set up the demonstration school, served on the ICS Archives Committee, and published her monograph The Nursery World of Dr. Blatz in 1991.

Charles K. Bliss was born September 5, 1897 as Karl Kaisal Blitz into a Jewish family to parents Michael Antchel Blitz and Jeanette Jochewed Seidmann. Bliss was born in Czernowitz, the capital of the province of Bukowina in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, now a part of Ukraine. Bliss spent his childhood growing up and attending school in Czernowitz, and enrolled in the Army at the age of 18 to fight in World War I. After which, he studied chemistry at the University of Czernowitz, and then enrolled at the Technical University of Vienna to become a chemical engineer.

While living and working in Vienna, Bliss was arrested by the Nazi party and was transported to the Dachau Concentration Camp. Throughout September 1938 to April 1939, Claire, Bliss's wife who was German, attempted to negotiate his release from the camps.

In April of 1939 Bliss was released and able to flee to London, England, where he changed his name from “Blitz” to “Bliss” in response to the London Blitz bombings. Throughout the next year, Bliss attempted to negotiate a visa for Claire to leave Vienna and join him in England, but they were unsuccessful. In 1940, they were able to acquire visas to Shanghai, China where they were officially reunited in 1941. In 1946, Bliss and his wife moved to Sydney, Australia where they settled until their deaths.

Between 1941 and 1949 Bliss began a process of developing his own symbolic language, partly inspired by Chinese characters. His hope was to create a universal language where meaning and intent could not be misconstrued or manipulated by others. In 1949, Bliss published Semantography (Blissymbolics) which described his symbolic language, Blissymbolics. The book attracted little attention by the public until 1971, when it was discovered by teachers at the Ontario Crippled Children’s Centre, who began to use Blissymbolics in their classrooms for children with cerebral palsy.

Bliss died in 1985.

William “Bill” Eberts Kenneth Brown (December 8, 1917-April 15, 1948) was born and raised in Toronto, Ontario. He graduated with an engineering degree from the University of Toronto. During the war, Bill served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Engineers, where his chief function was building Bailey Bridges, used to transport Allied troops over rivers when retreating Germans had bombed the original structures. He also worked on constructing roads that had been bombed out, but much preferred the challenges of bridge work.

Wilma Marion Brown (née Perry) (March 11, 1921- November 20, 2003) was born and raised in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She received training in nursing at the University of Manitoba and served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Medical Corps, where she was a Physio and Occupational Therapist.

Roman Bittman was born on June 5, 1941, in Fort Vermilion, Alberta. He grew up in a hunter-farming community with his German father and Metis mother. He later moved to Hay River, Northwest Territories. He entered the world of media when he started the first northern radio station at 17. As he grew, he became a film producer, businessman and writer. His contributions to Canadian media and Indigenous cultural organizations are many, as he was involved in more than 100 films and was well-known for having designed and implemented the Film Industry Labour Tax Credit, which was an essential financial instrument that fueled the growth of the English Canadian film industry. Roman Bittman worked at CBC News and was the producer for the series he is most well-known for, The Nature of Things, CBC’s flagship natural history and science series. His involvement in various Indigenous productions includes his position as an early advisor to the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network (APTN). He served as President of the Nova Scotia Film Development Corporation and produced the awards show the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation (NAAF), now known as Indspire today; he was the organization’s interim CEO. He died in 2017 and received special awards after his death, such as the Canadian Screen Awards in 2019.

Marilyn Belec Bittman is an award-winning film industry veteran for 32 years. She worked for the National Film Board and owned her company, Mobius Media. She worked alongside her husband, in Mobius Media. During her time as president of Mobius Media, she made and distributed films and acquired films produced outside her production company only if they had won awards. She was also a producer at the National Film Board’s Atlantic office. She helped found the first Canadian chapter of Women in Film and TV – Toronto.

The Taipei Economic and Cultural Office (TECO) was established in Toronto in 1993. In addition to consular services, its mandate is “to promote exchange and cooperation between Taiwan and Canada within its jurisdiction over Ontario, Manitoba, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island.” A related TECO Culture Centre was established in Toronto in 1989, moving to a Scarborough facility in 1994.

Source: https://www.roc-taiwan.org/cayyz_en/index.html

Colin Campbell was born in Reston, Manitoba in 1942. He studied art at the University of Manitoba and Claremont Graduate School. He taught at Mount Allison University in the 1960s and 1970s before moving to Toronto in 1973. In Toronto, Campbell taught at the Ontario College of Art and then the University of Toronto. Campbell died in October 2001.
A prominent video artist, Campbell was a founding member of Vtape. His work was shown at the 1980 Venice Biennale and appeared at institutions including the National Gallery of Canada, the Musée National d’Art Moderne, the Museum of Modern Art, The Whitney Museum, the Melbourne Film Festival, The British Film Institute Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, The Festival of Festivals (now TIFF), and the Chicago International Film Festival. A retrospective of his work took place at the Winnipeg Art Gallery in 1990. In 1996, Campbell received the Bell Canada Award in Video Art.

Sources:
“Colin Campbell – Video Artist.” https://www.colincampbellvideoartist.com/biography.php
Gale, Peggy. “Colin Campbell.” Vtape. 2006. https://vtape.org/artist?ai=43

Raymond Jafelice worked as an animation storyboard artist and director for Nelvana.

Robert (Bob) Kain, born 1932, worked as a cartoonist, and illustrator in Toronto. He studied at the Ontario College of Art and the School of Visual Arts in New York. In Toronto, Kain lead Videoart, a commercial art studio. After retiring from advertising, he became an illustrator for Chirp, a children’s magazine, designing their mascot. Bob died in 2021.

Robert (Rob) Bowman, born 1956, is a music professor at York University. After studying ethnomusicology at York, he completed his PhD at the University of Memphis. Bowman is an expert in popular music. He has written liner notes for multiple albums and appeared in many broadcast documentaries and radio programs. Nominated for six Grammy Awards, he won Best Album Notes Grammy in 1996 for The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Sings, Vol. 3: 1972-1975. Among his many publications is the book Soulsville, U.S.A.: The Story Of Stax Records, a history of the record label.

Sources: https://ampd.yorku.ca/profile/rob-bowman/ https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/rob-bowman-emc

Jerry G. Gray was born in Toronto in 1933. He graduated in Dentistry from the University of Toronto. In 1953, at Camp Naivelt, The Travellers, a folk music band, was formed by Gray, Sid Dolgay, Helen Gray, Jerry Goodis, and Oscar Ross. Initially associated with the United Jewish Peoples Order, the group was linked to the labour movement. Membership of the band changed over time, with Simone Johnston, Pam Fernie, Aileen Ahern, Marty Meslin, Ray Woodley, Ted Roberts, Joe Lawrence Hampson, and Don Vickery joining the group at various periods.
The Travellers debuted on television in 1954 on CBC. That year they adapted Woody Guthrie’s song “This Land Is Your Land” to a Canadian context, releasing the song as a single in 1957. In 1961, they performed at the Mariposa Folk Festival. In 1962, they toured the USSR, and in 1964 they performed for Queen Elizabeth II at the celebration of PEI’s centennial. In 1970, the band played at the Canadian Pavilion of Expo 70 in Japan. The group continued to perform into the 2000s. In 2001, an NFB documentary, “This Land Is Your Land,” was directed by Robert Cohen.
Beginning in 1999, Jerry Gray began teaching courses at the University of Toronto, Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University), Florida Atlantic University, and George Brown College. These courses covered Folk & Protest Music, as well as Yiddish Music.

Sources:
“The Travellers.” The Canadian Encyclopedia. September 7, 2018. https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/the-travellers-emc

The Hon. Francis (Frank) William Harding Davies, born 1946 in Northampton, England, was a prominent record producer and music publisher. In 1964, while studying at Strasbourg University, he started in the music business as a correspondent for Billboard Magazine. Davies then worked in England at EMI and Liberty Records. In 1970, he moved to Canada and established Love Productions and Daffodil Records (1971-1978) with Ronnie Hawkins. Davies was president of Partisan Music Productions (1978-1982), ATV Music Group Canada (1982-1985), and TMP – The Music Publisher (1986-1999). TMP was sold to Alliance Atlantis in 1994. In 1999, Davies began consulting as Let Me Be Frank Inc. He founded the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1998. He is the recipient of numerous industry awards, including multiple Junos. Prominent artists Davies has worked with include: Crowbar, King Biscuit Boy, A Foot In Coldwater, Fludd, Tom Cochrane, Klaatu, Chilliwack, The Rankin Family, and Serena Ryder.

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Herbert Marshall McLuhan was born in Edmonton, Alberta on 21 July 1911 to Herbert Ernest McLuhan, a salesman, and Elsie Naomi (Hall) McLuhan, an actress and monologist. The family moved to Winnipeg, where McLuhan attended the University of Manitoba from 1929 to 1934, receiving a Bachelor or Arts and a Master of Arts in English literature.

After teaching English at various American universities, McLuhan returned to Canada in 1944 to teach at Assumption College in Windsor. From 1946 until shortly before his death, he taught English at St. Michael's College, University of Toronto. In 1963, McLuhan became the director of the University of Toronto's newly-established Centre for Culture and Technology. The Centre conducted research on questions of sensory perception and other communications-related issues and offered academic courses.

McLuhan's books include the following: The Mechanical Bride (1951), The Gutenberg Galaxy (1961), for which he was awarded the Governor General's prize for critical prose; Understanding Media (1964); The Medium is the Massage (1967, with Quentin Fiore); War and Peace in the Global Village (1968, with Quentin Fiore); Through the Vanishing Point (1968, with Harley Parker); Counterblast (1969, with Harley Parker); Culture is Our Business (1970); From Cliché to Archetype (1970, with Wilfred Watson); Take Today (1972, with Barrington Nevitt); and The City as Classroom (1977, with Eric McLuhan and Kathryn Hutchon).

• Adapted from Library and Archives Canada's biographical note for the Marshall McLuhan fonds.

John Beckwith (born March 9, 1927 in Victoria, British Columbia) is a composer, pianist, author, and teacher. He moved to Toronto in 1945 to study piano with Alberto Guerrero at the Royal Conservatory. He also studied composition in Paris with Nadia Boulanger (1950-1951) and has a Mus.B. (1947) and Mus.M. (1961) from the University of Toronto, where he studied with John Weinzweig, among others. He began lecturing part-time at the University of Toronto in 1952, taught full-time from 1955 to 1990, and was dean of the Faculty of Music from 1970 to 1977. He was also the director for the Institute for Canadian Music at the Faculty of Music and held the Jean A. Chalmers professorship in Canadian music.

His over 160 compositions include four operas, orchestral, chamber, solo and choral works, and he has published critical and scholarly articles in Canadian music studies. He was also a staff (1953-1955) and freelance (1955-1965) script-writer and programmer for Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) music series, and a critic and columnist for the Toronto Star (1959-1962, 1963-1965).

Beckwith holds five honorary doctorates from Canadian Universities, and received the Canadian Music Council’s annual medal (1972) and the Composer of the Year citation (1984), the Toronto Arts award for music (1995), and the Diplome d’honneur of the Canadian Conference of the Arts (1996). He was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1987.

Beckwith passed away in Toronto, Ontario on December 5, 2022.

The Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center (CPEMC) was the first electronic music studio in the United States. The studio was founded by Otto Luening and Vladimir Ussachevsky at Columbia University. They received a Rockefeller Foundation grant (awarded in 1958) to create the studio, which became operational in 1959. Among the many composers who worked on compositions in this studio are Edgard Varese, Milton Babbitt, Jon Appleton, Bulent Arel, Luciano Berio, Wendy Carlos, Mario Davidovsky, Alfred del Monaco, Charles Dodge, Jacob Druckman, Halim El-Dabh, Paul Lansky, Alcides Lanza, Ilhan Mimaroglu, Pauline Oliveros, Ramon Sender, Alice Shields, Pril Smiley, Harvey Sollberger, Diane Thome, Michiko Toyama, and Barry Vercoe. The studio was renamed in Columbia University Electronic Music Center in the late 1980s, and the Columbia University Computer Music Center in 1996. Ussachevsky served as the studio's director from 1958 until 1980, followed by Mario Davidovsky (1980-1994); Fred Lerdahl and Brad Garton (1994-1996); and Brad Garton (1996-present).

Patricia Martin Shand was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba November 29, 1942. She started teaching music education at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music in 1968 and served as acting director of the university's Institute for Canadian Music in 1987. From 1973 to 1991, she was director of the John Adaskin Project.

Lowell Cross attended the University of Toronto from 1964-1968 as a graduate student in electronic music and musicology. His Bibliography of Electronic Music (University of Toronto Press) and his Toronto thesis, “Electronic Music, 1948-1953” were published during this period. He worked with the late Harry Somers on the 4 channel tape segments for the opera Louis Riel. Lowell later developed laser projection systems culminating in his invention of the “laser light show”. His installation at Expo ’70 , Osaka, Japan was the first major public laser-art projection system, which was seen by over 2,000,000 visitors. He later was Professor of Music and Director of Recording Studios at the University of Iowa.

Ruby Mercer was an American-born Canadian soprano, writer, and broadcaster. She made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in 1936 and toured North America as an opera, operetta, and musical comedy performer for several years, before becoming the producer and host of WNYC's radio program Mr. and Mrs. Opera (1949-1958) and MBS's The Ruby Mercer Show (1954-1958).

Following her marriage to Geza Por in 1958, they moved to Toronto, where she founded Opera Canada in 1960 and remained its editor until 1990. In 1968, she co-founded the Canadian Children's Opera Chorus with Lloyd Bradshaw. As a radio broadcaster, she hosted Opera Time and its successor Opera in Stereo on CBC radio (1962-1979, 1979-1984).

Mercer also wrote various books, including a biography of Edward Johnson The Tenor of his Time (Toronto, 1976) and The Quilicos: Louis, Gino and Lina (Oakville, 1990).

Mercer was named a member of the Order of Canada in 1995 and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Toronto in the same year. She passed away on January 26, 1999 in Toronto, Ontario.

By the late 1950s, Electronic Music had become an accepted academic discipline. It opened new areas of musical experience and extended the modern musicians' traditional range of taste. It created an awareness of the perimeters of musical performance and composition to an extent that was impossible until the techniques and equipment of Electronic Music were developed. In order to make available the results and benefits of the research and instruction in this area, Dr. Arnold Walter, in his capacity as Director, established in May of 1959 the Electronic Music Studio (UTEMS) as an integral and permanent division within the Music Faculty of the University of Toronto. Dr. Hugh Le Caine, of the National Research Council of Canada in Ottawa, was the technical advisor who maintained a dominant role in the technical development of new equipment and studio techniques. The original staff consisted of Dr. Arnold Walter, Professor Harvey Olnick, and Professor Myron Schaeffer.

UTEMS was the second university studio in North America. It followed the creation of the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in 1958. The New York studio was funded by a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. The initial proposal suggested a consortium that was to include the University of Toronto studio, but Rockefeller apparently intervened and rejected the plan.

The Electronic Music Studio of the University of Toronto was initially housed in an old house on Division Street, near Spadina and College—now the site of the CAMH building—pending completion of the new Edward Johnson Memorial Faculty of Music Building.

Myron Schaeffer was hired in 1958 to teach musicology and to develop the Electronic Music Studio. Correspondence from 1957-58 indicates that musicologist Harvey Olnick (an American, coming to the faculty via Columbia-Princeton) made enquiries about equipment purchases for the studio.

Following Schaeffer's death in 1965, Professor Gustav Ciamaga became the director of the studio. While Ciamaga was Dean of the Faculty of Music in the mid 80s, the position was passed to Professor Dennis Patrick. Since 2019, UTEMS has been under the direction of Professor Eliot Britton.

Víctor Viano was born in Rio Primero, Córdoba, Argentina in 1939. In Argentina, he studied art, illustration, and other fields of creative production and expression including radio and television. In 1968, Viano moved with his family to Caracas, Venezuela after winning a contest to become the Art Director of the Ricardo de Luca Advertisement agency (a prestigious advertising and marketing firm working for high profile corporate clients such as Gillette). After a year, Viano left his role at the Ricardo de Luca Advertisement agency to focus solely on editorial and book design as a freelancer although he continued to take on additional artistic and corporate projects. During his time in Venezuela, he designed logos, newspaper mastheads, and some album covers. He worked for many Venezuelan publishing houses including Monte Ávila Editores (one of the most prestigious publishing houses in Latin America), Tiempo Nuevo, Letras Nuevas, The Magazine of National Culture, Editorial Arte, Simón Bolívar University, Zulia’s Culture Institute, and the Venezuelan government. Subsequently, Viano moved to Spain and continued his editorial and book design work in Europe. During his time in Spain, Viano designed the branding and book covers of the Ediciones Mandorla (an independent Spanish publishing house), completed artistic and corporate design projects, and contributed his designs to exhibitions. As described by Faride Mereb of Ediciones Letra Muerta, Viano’s editorial work in Venezuela and Spain is noted for its bold designs and visual metaphors, ornamented borders and capitals, and the use of large titles on dust jackets. According to Mereb, Viano’s style was undoubtedly influenced by his experience working in advertising and reflected a new era of bold marketing in the publishing world. Víctor Viano died in Spain in 2000.

Sally Dundas was born in London, England in 1953. She moved to Canada in 1970 and started her film career at the National Film Board, at Women’s Studio D in Montreal. After a few years, she moved to Toronto and worked as a freelance production manager in the film industry, before joining IMAX in 1983.
Dundas co-produced many films at IMAX, including “Skyward,” (1985), “A Freedom to Move” 1985) and “Heart Land,” (1987). In 1990, Dundas produced three films for Expo ’90 in Osaka, Japan: the IMAX Dome stereoscopic film “Echoes of the Sun” (1990), the IMAX 3D film “The Last Buffalo” (1990) and “Flowers In The Sky”, the first film made for the IMAX Magic Carpet format. Dundas then produced “Mountain Gorilla” (1992), the first film by the IMAX Natural History Film Unit. This film received the 1992 Genesis Award for Outstanding Film Documentary in 1992. Dundas also produced “Fires of Kuwait” (1992), which was nominated for an Academy Award in the Feature Documentary category. Dundas then returned to 3D and stereoscopic film, producing “Four Million Houseguests” (also known as “The Hidden Dimension”) in 1997.
After IMAX, Dundas went on to work with the Motion Picture Bond Company. In her later years, she took up drawing and ceramics as another way of documenting the natural world. Dundas passed away in 2022.

Frank Ferguson was born in 1905 in Stoughton, Saskatchewan, to George Ferguson and Elizabeth (Lizzie) Fairlie. After Elizabeth passed away in the 1919 influenza pandemic, George sent Frank and his siblings to live with their aunt in Beeton, Ontario. Frank attended school in Georgetown, Ontario, and went on to enroll at University College at the University of Toronto in 1923.
Frank planned to become a minister, and studied English and History, hoping that a strong background in both subjects would contribute to his success as a preacher. Frank spent two summers on religious mission in Saskatchewan, where he met his future wife, Grace Warner. Upon return to Toronto, Frank decided against the religious life, and instead decided to focus on teaching. He graduated with degrees in English and History in 1927, and went on to study at the Ontario College of Education, graduating in 1928. In the same year, Frank and Grace were married. Grace, a graduate of the University of Saskatchewan, also became a schoolteacher.
The couple lived briefly in London and Weston, where Frank accepted teaching positions. In 1933, the couple settled in Galt, when Frank was hired as the head of the English Department at Galt Collegiate Institute and Vocational School. Grace and Frank had four children, Graeme, Janet, Mary, and William. In 1945, the Ferguson family settled into their home in Puslinch, Ontario.
In addition to his teaching role in Galt, Frank Ferguson also had a keen interest in politics, and in 1945 ran as a federal candidate for the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Waterloo South, coming in second place. He was again named the CCF candidate in 1949 but dropped out of the race due to time constraints.
As a teacher, Frank had a particular passion for the works of William Shakespeare, and he taught The Bard and other classics of English literature with relish to generations of students. In 1959, Frank became one of the first secondary school teachers in Ontario to take a sabbatical leave. During this time, he spent a year in England researching, preparing, and editing a series of Shakespearean textbooks that would go on to be used in Ontario schools. In 1963, Frank was named the outstanding English teacher in the province of Ontario. Frank retired from Galt Collegiate Institute the following year, but he continued to teach and lecture part time at the University of Toronto’s Extension Department (now the School for Continuing Studies), the Cambridge Public Library, and the Workers' Economic Association in Galt, Preston, Kitchener, and Brantford. In 1979, Frank received the Ontario Secondary School Teachers’ Federations Diamond Jubilee award for distinguished service to education and community.
Many of Frank’s students went on the achieve great success in their fields, including Peter Gzowski, a well-known Canadian broadcaster, as well as Graeme Ferguson (Frank’s son), Robert Kerr, and William Shaw, three of the founding members of the IMAX Corporation.
Frank Ferguson passed away in 1993, in Arundel, Quebec. In recognition of his work and dedication to his community, Frank Ferguson was posthumously inducted into the Cambridge Hall of Fame in 2002. His legacy at Galt Collegiate Institute also continues through the Frank Ferguson Award, a college scholarship for students who excel in English.

Phyllis Marie Ferguson (née Wilson) was born in 1950 in Quetico, Ontario, a status member of the Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn First Nation. At the age of 12, she was sent to live with her grandmother, Phyllis Tenniscoe, in Thunder Bay, Ontario. There, the young Phyllis attended Port Arthur Collegiate, where she excelled in sports and enjoyed working with the school’s audio-visual equipment, so much so that a school guidance counsellor encouraged Phyllis to pursue broadcasting as a career.
Upon graduation, Phyllis enrolled in Confederation College, in their new radio and television program. In 1970, Phyllis was hired to assist the location manager of “North of Superior,” one of the very first films shot in the newly invented IMAX format. The film’s director, Graeme Ferguson, would become Phyllis’ mentor, creative partner, and eventually, husband. After “North of Superior,” Phyllis went to host the National Film Board’s weekly “Challenge For Change” slot on local television. Later, she accepted a job with the CBC and became a radio announcer in Whitehorse. She also worked on an Indigenous community newspaper in Ottawa. In 1974, Phyllis rejoined Graeme Ferguson as the sound recordist on his film “Man Belongs to the Earth.” She later returned to television, working as the location manager for CBC’s “The Fifth Estate” and CTV’s “W5.”
Both Phyllis and Graeme eventually returned to the Thunder Bay area – this time to collaborate on a film that Phyllis was directing. Her 1977 documentary short “Nishnawbe-Aski: The People and the Land” explored the effects of change and northern development on the Cree and Ojibwa people of the Nishnawbe-Aski region, through interviews, lyrical vignettes of everyday life, and Phyllis’ own narration. Phyllis made the film pro bono, and it served as a way for indigenous community members to voice their opposition to clear-cutting in northwestern Ontario.
Phyllis and Graeme married in 1982, the same year that they launched another of their collaborative projects: “Hail Columbia!”, with Graeme serving as director and Phyllis co-producing. It was the first in a series of IMAX space films documenting NASA’s space missions in the larger-than-life format. Phyllis went on to co-produce “The Dream is Alive,” (1985) “Blue Planet,” (1990) and “Mission to MIR,” (1997) and was both co-producer and co-director of “Destiny in Space” (1994). Phyllis played a pivotal role in the IMAX Space team, particularly in winning the trust of the astronauts. With her disarming, unaffected style, her natural curiosity, and her regular presence at the Johnson Space Center, she came to be seen as the “glue that held the IMAX Space Team and the NASA 'extended family' together," according to former astronaut and associate administrator of NASA's Space Flight office, Bill Readdy.
After IMAX was sold to investors in 1994, Phyllis retired, and she and Graeme took up full-time residence at their summer home in the Lake of Bays area in Muskoka. She dedicated her time to community issues and charities, traveling, keeping in touch with her family, and taking up the sport of golf. She passed away on March 12, 2021, at the age of 70.

Ivan Graeme Ferguson was born in Toronto on October 7, 1929, to Frank and Grace Ferguson (nee Warner), both school teachers. His parents encouraged his creative pursuits, gifting him a Kodak Brownie camera when he was seven, and later, a Keystone 8mm film camera. Ferguson was raised in Galt, Ontario, and he attended Galt Collegiate Institute alongside his future IMAX co-founders Robert Kerr and William Shaw.
Ferguson enrolled at Victoria College at the University of Toronto in 1948, planning to study economics and political science. At U of T, Ferguson was active in the Students Administrative Council, the Historical Club, as well as the U of T Film Society. In 1950, Ferguson was selected for a summer filmmaking apprenticeship program at the National Film Board, where he met another IMAX co-founder and eventual brother-in-law, Roman Kroitor. Ferguson’s filmmaking career was further influenced by the avant-garde filmmaker Maya Deren. While teaching a workshop at U of T in 1951, Deren enlisted Ferguson as a lighting assistant, and convinced him to pursue film instead of economics.
Upon graduation, Ferguson was appointed the National Secretary of the World University Service of Canada. His job with WUSC took him to India, where he met the Swedish filmmaker Arne Sucksdorff. Sucksdorff hired Ferguson as an assistant director to work on his film, “En Djungelsaga,” (also known as “The Flute and the Arrow”) a dramatized documentary about the Muria people of central India. The film would go on to premier at the Cannes Film Festival. Ferguson eventually relocated to New York, with his first wife, Betty Ramsaur, a filmmaker he met while shooting in Alaska. The pair would go on to have two children, Munro and Allison, though they eventually divorced in 1974.
In New York, Ferguson found work as a freelance director, cinematographer, and editor. He edited the series ”Silents Please.” He also worked as the cinematographer on the short films “A Bowl of Cherries” and “Rooftops of New York” (that latter of which was nominated for an Academy Award). Ferguson also wrote and directed “The Legend of Rudolph Valentino,” a documentary about the legendary film star, and wrote and produced “The Love Goddesses”, a documentary about female film stars. Alongside Severn Darden and several members of the Second City, Ferguson wrote and directed the anarchic White House farce, “The Virgin President.”
It was around this time that Ferguson was also commissioned to make a documentary for Expo 67 in Montreal. Ferguson spent a year traveling and documenting the lives of Arctic peoples in Canada, Lapland, and Siberia. The resulting film was shown in a specially built theatre, in which audiences sat on a rotating turntable while viewing the film on 11 screens. In another pavilion, Ferguson’s brother-in-law Roman Kroitor was screening his film with Colin Low, “Labyrinth,” another immersive, multi-screen film experience. Both films were hugely successful, but both had technical challenges – particularly when it came to running and syncing multiple projectors across multiple screens. Kroitor and Ferguson at first commiserated with each other over technical issues, but then began to imagine an alternative method for producing an immersive, large-format viewing experience. The pair envisioned a single large screen – about the size of nine 35mm screens stacked in a three by three grid – projected from a single 70mm, 15-perf format moving horizontally. The idea for a new medium was born.
Ferguson moved back to Canada, and he and Kroitor began their new venture, Multiscreen Corp. They enlisted Ferguson’s former high school classmate Robert Kerr as a business manager. The group also tapped another one of Ferguson’s high school classmates, Bill Shaw, an engineer, to help build the technology needed for this new format. Within a few years, the team developed the 70mm format, commissioned a 70mm camera, and built the 70mm rolling loop projector. With the sponsorship of Fuji, they were also able to produce and screen the fist large-format film, “Tiger Child,” (directed by Donald Brittain) at Expo ’70, in Osaka, Japan.
But when the Expo closed, the future of the fledgling company was in doubt. That is, until the team learned the province of Ontario planned to open a new park with a multimedia theatre on Toronto’s lakeshore. Multiscreen struck a deal with Ontario Place, and Graeme Ferguson was commissioned to make a film for its new theatre. Ferguson’s “North of Superior” premiered at the Cinesphere, the first permanent IMAX theatre, on May 22, 1971. The venue would become a model for future IMAX theaters. Ferguson’s landmark film would further set the tone for future IMAX releases; while “Tiger Child” had featured multi-image filmmaking, Ferguson’s “North of Superior” predominantly featured sweeping vistas of nature in Northern Ontario in full-frame. The film was so popular that it quickly pushed all other Cinesphere films off the schedule, and even then, audiences lined up for hours to view it.
Over the next few years, Ferguson and his team focused on promoting and selling the IMAX format, while also continuing to make IMAX films. An IMAX theatre was launched at Circus World, in Florida, which featured Ferguson’s film of the same name. Another theatre opened at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio. The first dome IMAX theatre (dubbed OMINMAX) opened at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in San Diego, California. An IMAX theatre was built at Expo ’74 in Spokane, Washington, where Ferguson’s film “Man Belongs to the Earth” premiered. It was here that Michael Collins, a former astronaut and first director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum was sold on the IMAX concept. Collins agreed to incorporate an IMAX theatre at NASM, and the film “To Fly” (produced by MacGillivrary Freeman Films) premiered at the Samuel P. Langley IMAX theatre in 1976. The film was an enormous success. Not only did it break attendance records, it also set up a more consistent stream of revenue for IMAX, as other museums and institutions bought the system in order to replicate the NASM formula.
In 1980, Ferguson sought new filmmaking frontiers, and approached NASA with the idea of sending an IMAX camera to space with shuttle astronauts. NASA agreed, and the result was Ferguson’s “Hail Columbia!” in 1982. In that year, Ferguson also married his partner Phyllis Wilson, whom he had met while working on “North of Superior” several years earlier. Wilson, as well as writer-editor Toni Myers, were key members of the IMAX space film team. Over the next decade and a half, the team would go on to make eight space films in total, training astronauts to use the IMAX camera to capture breathtaking footage of Earth and space.
Ferguson and his founding partners sold IMAX in 1994, but he continued to consult on and produce a number IMAX films up to year 2016, with the release of “A Beautiful Planet,” on which he served as executive producer. IMAX now has over 280 theatres in 36 countries, showing traditional IMAX films as well as Hollywood features adapted to the format. Ferguson received many awards and honours for his work, as well as for his contributions to the film industry. In 1986, he received a Genie Special Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to the Canadian film industry. He received the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts Medal in 1990, and was named to the Order of Canada in 1993. Ferguson also received honorary doctorates from the University of Bradford (UK), as well as Victoria University (at the University of Toronto). In his later years, Ferguson also wrote and published a book on the Swedish-American inventor Frank Ofeldt. Ferguson passed away in May, 2021 at the age of 91.

Annette Mangaard was born in 1956 in Vaerlose, Denmark. She and her family emigrated to Canada in 1960, and she grew up in Scarborough, Ontario. She attended the Ontario College of Art and design from 1977 to 1981, completing an honours degree in painting and printmaking. In 1981, Mangaard moved to Baker Lake, Nunavut, bringing with her a Super 8 camera and five reels of film. After a year of isolation, Mangaard returned to Toronto, determined to become a filmmaker.
Mangaard’s first forays into film were loose and intuitive Super 8 shorts, made nearly contemporaneously. Her first film, “Line Through Bath,” (1984) documented an art installation in Bath, England. “Nothing by Mouth” (1984) and “She Bit Me Seriously” (1984) followed, with the latter being screened at The Funnel, an experimental film collective where Mangaard was a member. It was at The Funnel that Mangaard began to explore 16mm filmmaking. While she enjoyed the immediacy of Super 8, there were fewer opportunities to exhibit small gauge films. Her next experimental works, “There is in power … seduction” (1985), “Her Soil is Gold” (1985), “The Tyranny of Architecture” (1987) and “The Iconography of Venus” (1987) were all made in 16mm.
Mangaard then branched out into scripted fare, with the “new wave road comedy” “Northbound Cairo” (1987), as well as the deeply personal “Let Me Wrap My Arms Around You.” (1992), for which she repurposed her footage shot in Baker Lake a decade earlier. During a residency at the Canadian Film Centre, Mangaard made the short drama “94 Arcana Drive” (1993). She then made her debut as a feature writer and director with “Fish Tale Soup” (1996), a sweetly comedic look at a couple dealing with infertility issues. She also returned to autobiographical themes with the film “Into the Night” (2006), a personal exploration of her struggle with insomnia.
Mangaard also turned her camera towards documentary subjects – in particular, artists and the process of making art. Notable works along these lines include “A Dialogue With Vision: The Art of Spring Hurlbut and Judith Schwarz” (1990), “The Many Faces of Arnaud Maggs” (2004), “General Idea: Art, Aids and the Fin de Siecle” (2007), “Kingaait: Riding Light into the World” (2010) and “Suzy Lake: Playing With Time” (2014).
Mangaard’s films and documentaries have screened all over the world. Notable festival credits include PAFID (Patagonia) in Argentina, Hot Docs and TIFF in Toronto, DOCSDF Mexico City Film Festival, Atlantic Film Festival, Halifax and Millenium, New York. Notable solo screenings include the Pacific Cinematheque in Vancouver, Canada and the Kino Arsenal Cinematheque in Berlin, West Germany. She was also honoured with a career retrospective of her film works at the Cinemateque Palais de Kino in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Alongside her filmmaking, Mangaard’s video installation work has appeared at Nuit Blanche, Toronto, The Confederation Art Gallery in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Olympic Park in Sydney Australia, South-on Sea, Liverpool and Manchester, UK, and Broken Hill, Australia. She is the cofounder of the Images Festival, and has sat on the board of The Funnel, The Toronto Arts Council, LIFT, and the Canadian Filmmakers Distribution Centre. In 2017, she received her MFA in in Interdisciplinary Media, Art and Design from OCADU in 2017 and was awarded the gold medal for her outstanding graduate work.