Colonel Ian Simon Fraser is a leading producer of large-scale military tattoos and events in Canada and overseas.

Biography

Born in 1932, Fraser served in the Canadian Army and Canadian Forces from 1952 to 1983, retiring with the rank of colonel, having had regimental service with The Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada, The Royal Canadian Regiment (RCR) and the

Canadian Airborne Regiment The Canadian Airborne Regiment (french: links=, Régiment aéroporté canadien) was a Canadian Forces formation created on April 8, 1968. It was not an administrative regiment in the commonly accepted British Commonwealth sense, but rather a tactic ...

. Fraser was commanding officer of 2RCR, the Canadian School of Infantry and the

, and during his military career served in Canada, Germany, India and Cyprus. Fraser is also a graduate of the Indian Defence Services Staff College and the Canadian National Defence College. After producing a small scale Tattoo in the late 1950s, in 1962 Fraser was recruited as the Producer/Director of the Canadian Tattoo for the Seattle World's Fair. In 1967 he was then chosen to write, produce and direct the Canadian Armed Forces Centennial Tattoo 1967. The Centennial Tattoo remains the world's largest ever touring production, touring across Canada from April to November 1967, and presented in 44 locations covering every Canadian province. In 1979, Fraser produced and directed the first Nova Scotia Tattoo, to mark the first International Gathering of the Clans outside Scotland. The event was attended and opened by

Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon (4 August 1900 – 30 March 2002) was Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 to 6 February 1952 as the wife of King George VI. She was the l ...

. The Nova Scotia Tattoo has since been held annually, becoming known as the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, following the royal designation bestowed upon the event in 2006 by

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

on the occasion of the 80th birthday. Fraser remained producer/director until 2007, when he passed the role of producer on to CEO Ann Montague. Fraser remained artistic director of the show, until taking a consulting role then retiring from the production in 2016. In addition to his work in Nova Scotia, Fraser has acted as a consultant for a variety of additional productions in Canada,

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, South Africa, the United States and Europe, producing and directing over 1000 shows throughout his career. Fraser has also written plays for the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC), authored a number of books, and been the recipient of numerous awards including the Order of Military Merit, the Canadian Forces Decoration and the Order of Nova Scotia. In 2001 Fraser was granted a Doctor of Civil Laws, Honoris Causa, from Acadia University.

References

Seattle Times, 22 September 1964 Ottawa Citizen, 25 August 1965 The Brandon Sun, 1 September 1965 Wainwright Star Chronicle, 1 September 1965 The Atlantic Advocate, October 1965 Weekend Magazine #36, 1966 The Sentinel Magazine, May 1966 Montreal Star, 20 June 1966 Toronto Daily Star, 30 July 1966 Pictou Gazette February 1976 Globe and Mail, 25 March 1967 Toronto Telegram, 25 March 1967 The Yukon News, 4 April 1967 Toronto Daily Star, 24 June 1967 Vancouver Life, July 1967 Saint Catherine's Standard, 7 July 1967 Le Droit, 14 August 1967 Ottawa Journal, 17 August 1967 Ottawa Citizen, 18 August 1967 Ottawa Journal, 21 August 1967 The Toronto Daily Star, 29 August 1967 The Toronto Telegram, 29 August 1967 The Toronto Telegram, 30 August 1967 The Toronto Daily Star, 31 August 1967 The Barrie Examiner, 26 August 1967 The Toronto Telegram, 1 September 1967 Ottawa Citizen, 24 August 1969

External links

Colonel Ian S. Fraser, Biography

Ian S. Fraser at LinkedIn

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fraser, Ian Canadian Army officers 1932 births Living people Officers of the Order of Military Merit (Canada) Members of the Order of Nova Scotia Canadian military musicians Black Watch (Royal Highland Regiment) of Canada officers Royal Canadian Regiment officers Canadian Airborne Regiment officers

Biography

See also

References

External links