My Orchestras and Other Adventures: The Memoirs of Boyd Neel

Ann Turner is Financial and Budget Manager at the University of British
Columbia Library.

To a generation of young Canadians, the name Boyd Neel will be forever associated with success in the examinations of the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto. He was Dean of the Conservatory for 18 years, and his signature appeared on the certificates that marked their musical progress. But he is best known internationally as a conductor, orchestra director, and champion of contemporary composers. In his native England he enjoyed a distinguished career of some 20 years prior to his emigration to Canada. The outstanding string orchestra he founded there in his own name toured Europe, North America, Australia, and New Zealand and was extensively recorded. Upon establishing himself in Canada, he founded another chamber ensemble, the Hart House Orchestra, whose performances Canadians enjoyed via the CBC in the 1950s. Dr. Neel was also known as a radio personality, speaking about music and general subjects, and his facility with words and ready wit enliven these memoirs, too. Besides being “a good read” in its own right, this book provides a knowledgeable contemporary view of the London and European musical scenes in the 1930s and ‘40s by someone who knew personally the major composers and performers of the day. His experiences in Canada are particularly interesting to Canadian music lovers, covering the development of the Royal Conservatory and the University of Toronto Faculty of Music into their present forms, the introduction of musical programs to the Stratford Festival, and the entire life-span of the Hart House Orchestra. The book is well indexed and includes a complete discography of the recorded works conducted by Boyd Neel from 1934 to 1979.