Hugh Hanson Davidson (born 27 May 1930, Montreal, died 14 July 2014, Victoria) was a Canadian composer, music critic, radio producer, writer, and arts administrator. His compositional output includes works for piano, ballets, chamber music, vocal art songs, choral works, and incidental music for the theatre.Hugh Davidson
at Encyclopedia of Music in Canada Davidson graduated from The Royal Conservatory of Music where he studied from 1945 to 1948. His teachers there included George Crum in piano and

Godfrey Ridout Godfrey Ridout (6 May 1918 in Toronto – 24 November 1984 in Toronto) was a Canadians, Canadian composer, conductor, music educator, and writer. Life and career Ridout was a descendant of Thomas Ridout (politician), Thomas Ridout, the first Su ...

in music composition. In 1951, he went to England to pursue further studies in composition with Bernard Stevens and Humphrey Searle. After four years, he returned to Canada where he worked as a composer and studied orchestration with

Neil Chotem Neil Chotem (9 September 1920 – 21 February 2008) was a Canadian composer, arranger, conductor, pianist, and music educator. Works Chotem's compositional style is tonal, and often incorporates elements of jazz and popular music. He compo ...

in Montreal. From 1956 to 1961 Davidson was a radio producer for

CBC Montreal CBC Montreal may refer to: *CBME-FM, CBC Radio One on 88.5 FM *CBM-FM, CBC Music on 93.5 FM *CBMT-DT, CBC Television on channel 6 See also * SRC Montréal (disambiguation) *Maison Radio-Canada Maison Radio-Canada (English: ''CBC House'') is the ...

's English network, moving to their French network in 1962 where he worked for three years as a supervisor of music. He was then appointed assistant program director at CBC Montreal in 1965, a position he held for four years. In 1966 he helped found the Quebec Contemporary Music Society. In 1967 he worked for the Canadian Pavilion at Expo 67 as their music consultant. He worked for the BBC in London from 1969 to 1971 and then returned to Canada to become music administrator of the National Arts Centre (1971–1973). He was appointed head of music at the Canada Council in 1973, where he remained until he became cultural councillor to the

Canadian High Commission {{Unreferenced, date=June 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) Canadian High Commissions are Canadian diplomatic missions in Commonwealth states. They are the equivalent of embassies in non-Commonwealth states. * List of Canadian High Commissioners to Aus ...

in London in 1978. From 1981 to 1988 he served as general manager of the Canada Council's Touring Office. After leaving there he worked as a consultant to various arts organizations in the Vancouver area. Davidson worked as a music critic for the British magazine '' Music and Musicians'' and for several publications in Montreal including '' The Gazette'' and '' Montréal-Matin''. He also wrote program notes for numerous ensembles, including the

Orchestre symphonique de Montreal The Montreal Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, or OSM) is a Canadian symphony orchestra based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The orchestra’s home is the Montreal Symphony House at Place des Arts. It is the only o ...

, the National Arts Centre Orchestra, and the

Pro Musica Society of Montreal Pro is an abbreviation meaning "professional". Pro, PRO or variants thereof may also refer to: People * Miguel Pro (1891–1927), Mexican priest * Pro Hart (1928–2006), Australian painter * Mlungisi Mdluli (born 1980), South African retired f ...

. From 1956 to 1960, he was the assistant editor of the Jeunesses musicales du Canada's music journal. Davidson retired to Victoria, BC, in 1999, where he served, until his death, as a supporter and advisor to the Victoria Symphony. He is a founder of Hugh Davidson Fund, which is currently administered by the Victoria Foundation. In 2018,

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra The Vancouver Symphony Orchestra (VSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The VSO performs at the Orpheum, which has been the orchestra's permanent home since 1977. With an annual operating budget of $16 million, it is ...

, under the baton of Bramwell Tovey had performed some of his works, along with the violinist Rachel Barton Pine.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Davidson, Hugh 1930 births 2014 deaths 20th-century classical composers Canadian classical composers Canadian music critics The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Musicians from Montreal Canadian male classical composers 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians