collection 37 - John Hawkins fonds

John Hawkins, composer, pianist, and teacher was born in Montreal on July 26, 1944 and died in Toronto, January 14, 2007.

Hawkins studied piano with Lubka Kolessa at the Conservatoire de musique et d’art dramatique and composition with Istvan Anhalt at McGill University. He also attended a conducting seminar with Bierre Boulez in Basel, Switzerland (1969). As a pianist, he performed over 70 new works for both the Montréal’s Société de musique contemporaine du Québec (SMCQ) and New Music Concerts (NMC). He won the Léger Prize in 1983 for new chamber music. He joined the University of Toronto in 1970, and taught analysis and composition until 2006. His compositions are performed throughout Canada, the United States, and Europe, and he wrote music for numerous groups and organizations, including the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Nexus, York Winds, NMC, SMQC, Chamber Concerts Canada and the Banff Centre.