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Unofficial
Biography
NOTE: The
following is a lengthy and personal account of my life and
career. Many may not find this particularly interesting or
exciting; some in fact may find it rather self-indulgent.
However, for those who are interested and can endure the
length, there many be some worthwhile bits of information
that may account for the better (or even worse) traits of my
character and music. So be prepared!
UNDER
CONSTRUCTION
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Early
Childhood (1948-1962)
I was born in Toronto on
February 13, 1948, the son of May and Fred
Parker.
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I was quite a shy child,
as I remember.
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My school picture at age
8.
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The times on Athletic Avenue in
those early years were wonderful and carefree as childhood
years frequently are. My brother and I looked forward to
Hallowe'en when we could pretend to be those great heroes we
saw on television.
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Cowboy Mike on the steps
of 30 Athletic Avenue
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Myself as Zorro and my
brother Paul as a pirate.
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I attended Duke of Connaught Public
School where I did well in every subject except the dreaded
PHYS.ED (or PT as we called it back then). It was there that
that fateful phone call came to my grade 5 classroom. The
teacher quickly conveyed the message to us all: "Anyone want
to study violin?" Without hesitation, I and a few others put
up our hands. That was surely the beginning of my career in
music. The wonderful and incredibly caring violin teacher
Jack Montague visited our school once a week to teach about
8 to 10 of us how to play the violin. He would inspire and
encourage me for all my musical life. By grade 8 I had
switched to viola. I studied privately with Montague at the
Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto, earning my Grade 8
Viola Diploma.
I also studied privately with Roy
Rome, a co-worked of my father's at the General Motors Plant
in Toronto. Rome had been a violinist in the Canadian Army
in WW II and instilled in me that romantic style of playing
epitomized by Heifetz. Rome also deposited with me all of
his violin and piano music in a large cardboard box. At the
beginning I couldn't play any of it, but I still put each
piece on the music stand in my room and TRIED my best to
learn it. I credit this with my good ability to sight-read.
I must thank my parents immensely, not only for ALLOWING me
to study violin (not exactly the most manly activity for a
guy in public school) but also for finding a secondary
teacher to supplement the more classical training provided
by Montague.
The
High School Years (1962-1967)
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In 1962 I began attending
Riverdale Collegiate Institute. I truly enjoyed the
thrill of the challenging and rewarding academic
atmosphere Riverdale provided. The teachers there
were dedicated and my high school years are among
my most fulfilling.
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My first high
school photo (1962)
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It was there that I remember sensing
another message from fate concerning my future calling. In
Grade 9 at the time we were required to learn Latin. I
recall feeling annoyed that I should have to learn such a
"dead" language. However, my first teacher, Bill Lale, was
extraordinary and he instilled in me the love of this
wonderful language. I continued to take Latin throughout
high school and the initial inspiration from Mr. Lale was
taken to new heights by my second Latin teacher Kay Hoey.
Her obvious love of the subject and her tremendous ability
to convey that love to her students were, I think, primarily
resonsible for my deciding to make classics a career. She
has since become one of my dearest friends.
Riverdale also offered courses in
classical Greek but we had to come at 8 am to learn it.
Initially I did not want to get up that early. However, my 9
am homeroom for Grade 11 was Mr. Lale's class in Latin and
he had already been teaching a few students Greek beginning
at 8 am. Every morning I would come to school seeing this
wonderfully mysterious alphabet on the board. I decided to
join to Greek class in Grade 12. To do so I had to get
caught up with the rest of the class and spent the entire
summer of 1965 learning Greek by myself in Michgan where I
was studying viola. I was clearly hooked on the Classical
World and resolved to continue my studies at the University
of Toronto after high school graduation.
Musically things were also very
interesting at Riverdale. I played violin in the school
orchestra and became close friends with another student,
Clifford Ford, who lived several blocks away from me.
Clifford was a pianist and a composer and we got together
frequently to play duets. Clifford subsequently become one
of Canada's established composers, a co-founder of the
contemporary group ARRAY in the early 1970's. In Grade 12,
Clifford and I met Bill Usher, a superb clarinettist and
poet who transferred to Riverdale in his final year of high
school. He later went on to win a Juno for producing a
children's album with Sharon, Lois and Bram. We formed a
trio and played concerts in Toronto and at Lakefield College
School.
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Clifford Ford (Piano)
and Bill Usher (Clarient) with me on Viola
performing Mozart's Trio for Clarinet, Viola and
Piano
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Bill Usher and myself
performing in 1966
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It was also during my time at
Riverdale that I started travelling the world. In 1964 I
went to Banff for the first time, studying viola. In 1965 I
also studied viola at Michigan State University on
scholarship from the Toronto Musicians' Union. Finally in
1966 I joined the National Youth Orchestra for the first
time on its European Tour. We played in London, at the
Edinburgh Festival, in France and in Philharmonic Hall in
Berlin. It was to be my first but certainly not my last trip
to wonderful Europe.
So Riverdale was fundamental in
establishing in me my two greatest loves: classics and
music.
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My official graduation
photo from Riverdale Collegiate
1967
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