Ezra Schabas, (April 24, 1924 – October 12, 2020) was a Canadian musician, educator and author. He was active in Canada's musical life beginning in 1952, when he emigrated from

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

with his family. During his time in Canada, he was a leading musical educator, clarinetist, and administrator in Toronto's musical institutions. He wrote several books on Canadian and American musical history, and he was appointed to the

Order of Ontario The Order of Ontario () is the most prestigious official honour in the Canadian province of Ontario. Instituted in 1986 by Lieutenant Governor Lincoln Alexander, on the advice of the Cabinet under Premier David Peterson, the civilian order is adm ...

and made a Member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

Early life and education

Schabas was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

in April 1924 to Jewish parents, Minnie Anker and Hyman Schabas.Ezra Schabas obituary
/ref> He attended the

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most el ...

for clarinet, where he studied with clarinetist Arthur Christmann. The interruption of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

led Schabas to leave

Juilliard The Juilliard School ( ) is a private performing arts conservatory in New York City. Established in 1905, the school trains about 850 undergraduate and graduate students in dance, drama, and music. It is widely regarded as one of the most elit ...

in 1943 with an Artist Diploma to serve with the US Army forces in France and Germany. While overseas, he attended the Nancy Conservatory before returning to New York City in 1946. Upon his return, Schabas completed his Bachelor of Science at

in 1947, followed by a Master of Arts at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1948. For the next few years, he studied in a variety of places, including the

Eastman School of Music The Eastman School of Music is the music school of the University of Rochester, a private research university in Rochester, New York. It was established in 1921 by industrialist and philanthropist George Eastman. It offers Bachelor of Music (B.M ...

in Rochester, NY, the

American Conservatory The Fontainebleau Schools were founded in 1921, and consist of two schools: ''The American Conservatory'', and the ''School of Fine Arts at Fontainebleau''. History When the United States entered First World War the commander of its army, Gener ...

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...

, France, as well as clarinet in New York with

David Weber David Mark Weber (born October 24, 1952) is an American science fiction and fantasy author. He has written several science-fiction and fantasy books series, the best known of which is the Honorverse, Honor Harrington science-fiction series. His ...

and in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

with Gaston Hamelin. Between 1948 and 1950, he taught at the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

and from 1950 to 1952 at

Western Reserve University Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, before moving to Toronto to be a freelance clarinetist and concert manager at the

Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edward ...

. He became a Canadian citizen in 1967.

Career

After relocating to Toronto in 1952, Schabas became a director of the

, one of Canada's most esteemed music education institutions that has trained artists including

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

Glenn Gould Glenn Herbert Gould (; né Gold; September 25, 1932October 4, 1982) was a Canadian classical pianist. He was one of the most famous and celebrated pianists of the 20th century, and was renowned as an interpreter of the keyboard works of Johann ...

and

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan Order of Canada, OC Order of British Columbia, OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is ''Surfacing ( ...

. During his eight-year tenure at the Conservatory and afterwards, Schabas's clarinet pupils included Brian Barley, Paul Grice, Howard Knopf, Timothy Maloney, Peter Smith, and Patricia Wait. As a concert manager, he helped find engagements for young artists such as

Jon Vickers Jonathan Stewart Vickers, (October 29, 1926 – July 10, 2015), known professionally as Jon Vickers, was a Canadian heldentenor. Born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, he was the sixth in a family of eight children. In 1950, he was awarded a s ...

and

Lois Marshall Lois Catherine Marshall, CC (January 29, 1924 – February 19, 1997) was a Canadian soprano. Her husband, Weldon Kilburn, had been her early coach and piano accompanist. Early life and studies; awards Born in Toronto, Ontario, Marshall "began ...

. In 1960, Schabas helped to found the

National Youth Orchestra of Canada The National Youth Orchestra of Canada (NYO Canada, or NYOC, french: Orchestre national des jeunes du Canada) is a Canadian youth orchestra headquartered in Toronto. The orchestra has given concert tours in every major Canadian city as well as tri ...

, a musical organization dedicated to discovering and nurturing talented young Canadian musicians, and he was the Orchestra's first administrator. That same year, he was appointed to the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

's faculty of music. He became the head of the performance and opera department from 1968 to 1978. In 1966, the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly-funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by On ...

and the Ontario Federation of Symphony Orchestras commissioned him to report on Ontario Orchestras, which subsequently served as a blueprint for Ontario's orchestral development for the next thirty years. Schabas collaborated with the Ontario Arts Council again in 1968 to establish the University of Toronto Conductors' Workshop. In 1972, Schabas was one of the founders of Orchestras Canada and was elected its first president. Having continued teaching at the Faculty of Music and Royal Conservatory of Music throughout his time at the National Youth Orchestra and Orchestras Canada, in 1978 Schabas was made Principal of the Conservatory, a position he held until 1983. During his time as Principal, he developed training programs for gifted children and pre-university teenagers. In 1980, he launched the Orchestral Training Program for professional musicians at the Conservatory, which received funding from Employment and Immigration Canada to help young Canadians find work in Canadian orchestras. That same year, he founded the Association of Colleges and Conservatories of Music, serving as its first president from 1980 to 1984. Schabas followed up his time as Principal by returning to the University of Toronto's faculty of music in 1983, only to retire the following year. In 1985, he was named professor emeritus. From 1987 to 1990, Schabas again drew upon funding from Employment and Immigration Canada, the Ontario Arts Council and the Association of Canadian Orchestras to direct "Musical Performance and Communication." This unique professional training program at the University of Toronto sought to help classical musicians find new and better ways of attracting and communicating with audiences.

Musician and author

Not only a teacher and administrator, Schabas performed and conducted in Canada, the United States and overseas. He worked as a freelance clarinetist for the CBC Orchestra until 1960 and played in a number of ensembles around Toronto, including the Toronto Woodwind Quintet from 1956 to 1960. As an educator, he spoke at conferences in Europe, Asia, South America, Canada and the US and was a frequent consultant and juror for the

Canada Council for the Arts The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the federal government's principal in ...

, the Ontario Arts Council, and Canadian Heritage, among others. He wrote three biographies on musicians and two on musical institutions, winning the 1995 City of Toronto Annual Book Award for ''Sir Ernest MacMillan: The Importance of Being Canadian''. From 1996 to 1998, he also acted as president of

The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto The Arts and Letters Club of Toronto (usually just called ''The Arts and Letters Club'') is a private club in Toronto, Ontario, which brings together writers, architects, musicians, painters, graphic artists, actors and others working in or with a ...

and in 2000 was elected director-general of the Canadian Encyclopedia of Music.

Personal life

Schabas lived in Toronto and was married to Ann (Fairley) Schabas, the former dean of the Faculty of Library and Information Sciences at the University of Toronto. She is the daughter of

Margaret Fairley Margaret Adele Fairley born Margaret Adele Keeling (1885–1968) was a British-born Canadian writer, educator, and political activist. From 1936 until her death, she was a member of the Communist Party of Canada (CPC). She was deported from the USA ...

, a notable Canadian activist and writer, and

Barker Fairley Barker Fairley, (May 21, 1887 – October 11, 1986) was a British-Canadian painter, and scholar who made a significant contribution to the study of German literature, particularly for the work of Goethe, and was an early champion and friend ...

, a well-respected Canadian artist and German literature scholar. They had five children: academic

William Schabas William Anthony Schabas, OC (born 19 November 1950) is a Canadian academic specialising in international criminal and human rights law. He is professor of international law at Middlesex University in the United Kingdom, professor of internation ...

, former Ontario Chief Medical Officer of Health

Richard Schabas Richard Schabas (born December 1951) is a retired public health physician who served as the Chief Medical Officer of Health in Ontario from 1987 to 1997. Schabas also served as the Head of Preventive Oncology at Cancer Care Ontario from 1997 to 2 ...

, academic

Margaret Schabas Margaret Schabas (born 1954) is a Canadian philosopher and professor of philosophy at the University of British Columbia notable for her work in the history and philosophy of science, particularly the science of economics. Schabas has also publi ...

, transportation executive Michael Schabas and Ontario Supreme Court Justice

Paul Schabas Paul B. Schabas is a judge of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. Prior to his appointment to the bench, he was senior litigation partner at Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP in Toronto and was one of Canada's leading barristers. In addition to ...

. He had twelve grandchildren, and eleven great-grandchildren. He died in Toronto, Ontario in October 2020 at the age of 96.

Awards

Schabas was awarded the

Canadian Centennial Medal The Canadian Centennial Medal (french: Médaille du centenaire du Canada) is a commemorative medal struck by the Royal Canadian Mint in 1967 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Canadian Confederation and was awarded to Canadians who were ...

in 1967, appointed to the Order of Ontario in 1996, and made a Member of the Order of Canada in 2000. In 2002, he was appointed a Fellow (''Honoris Causa'') of the Royal Conservatory of Music, was presented with the

Golden Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal (french: link=no, Médaille du jubilé d'or de la Reine Elizabeth II) or the Queen's Golden Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2002 to mark the 50th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

by the Governor General, and made a lifetime member of the Toronto Musicians Association. In 2012, he received the

Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

Books

*1989:
Theodore Thomas: America's Conductor and Builder of Orchestras, 1835-1905
', Champaign: University of Illinois Press; *1994:
Sir Ernest MacMillan: The Importance of Being Canadian
', Toronto: University of Toronto Press, (awarded the City of Toronto annual award, 1995). *2000:
Opera Viva: The Canadian Opera Company; The First Fifty Years
', co-authored with Carl Morey, Toronto: Dundurn Press, *2005:
There's Music In These Walls: A History of the Royal Conservatory of Music
', Toronto: Dundurn Press, *2007:
Jan Rubes: A Man of Many Talents
', Toronto: Dundurn Press,

References

External links

Ezra Schabas archival papers
held at th
University of Toronto Archives and Records Management Services

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schabas, Ezra 1924 births 2020 deaths Musicians from New York City Musicians from Toronto Canadian music historians Canadian male non-fiction writers Members of the Order of Canada Members of the Order of Ontario American emigrants to Canada United States Army personnel of World War II Military personnel from New York City Jewish American musicians Jewish American writers Jewish Canadian musicians Jewish Canadian writers Juilliard School alumni Columbia University alumni Eastman School of Music alumni American Conservatory alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst faculty Case Western Reserve University faculty Academic staff of The Royal Conservatory of Music Writers from New York City Writers from Toronto 21st-century American Jews