Born to a musical family in Boston, Lincolnshire UK in 1918, George’s exceptional musical talent was evident early on. He studied piano and organ first in his home town, then at the Royal College of Music in London; finally he went to Oxford where he achieved his DMus in 1943 at the young age of 25. Answering an advertisement in an English paper for a teacher at the Halifax Conservatory of Music, he arrived in Canada in November 1945, thereupon assuming duties both as music teacher and as organist at the Cathedral Church of All Saints in Halifax.
It was at Sir Ernest MacMillan’s suggestion that he moved to Toronto in 1947 – Toronto perhaps offering greater opportunities for a young and energetic pianist whose sight reading abilities and technical assuredness at the keyboard were great assets to the wider musical community.
He became an examiner for the Royal Conservatory of Music in 1948 and first worked with the CBC Opera Company in 1949, later acting as coach and assistant conductor. He worked as pianist and accompanist at the Vancouver International Festival from 1958 to 1962, and in 1965 began the first of 41 successive summers as collaborative pianist for numerous faculty and students of various musical disciplines at the Banff School of Fine Arts. He was assistant conductor and rehearsal pianist with the Canadian Opera Company for many years beginning in 1958, and in 1967 became an opera coach at the University of Toronto.
George was rehearsal pianist and organist with the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir and frequently played piano or organ with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra; he also played harpsichord with The Chamber Players of Toronto. In a multitude of situations he was recognized widely as one of Canada’s most skillful, reliable and versatile accompanists, providing secure support for hundreds of performers from students at the beginnings of their studies to professional artists, and working even into his late 80’s at such institutions as the Royal Conservatory of Music and his beloved Banff Centre.
He died in 2015 in his 98th year, having spent his whole working life doing nothing but enjoying himself, as he himself affirmed.
