Fonds 47 - Frank Blachford fonds

Frank Blachford was a violinist, teacher, conductor, and composer. He was born on December 28, 1879 in Toronto, Ontario and passed away on June 24, 1957 in Calgary, Alberta. He studied at the Toronto Conservatory of Music (TCM) with Bertha Drechsler Adamson and graduated with his ATCM in 1897, before continuing his studies at the Leipzig Conservatory with Hans Sitt and Carl Reinecke, graduating in 1901 with the Helbig prize. He then studied in Geneva, Switzerland with Henri Marteau and in Berlin, Germany. He returned to Canada in 1901 and taught at the TCM until his death. He was also concertmaster of the Conservatory Orchestra (1906-1908) and the Welsman Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1908-1918), and was a first violinist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1932-1946). He also performed as a solo violinist. As a chamber musician, he founded the Toronto String Quartet in 1907; performed with the Schumann Trio (1902-1905), the Conservatory Trio (1926-1928); and, conducted the Conservatory String Orchestra (1914-1925) and the Victoria College Orchestra (1920-1930). In 1932, he formed the Blachford String Symphony, a group of 16 musicians from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Blachford's compositions include pedagogical works for violin, and transcriptions of baroque and romantic music for string quartet and orchestra. He also wrote a number of songs.