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 composed a considerable body of works for television and radio and also wrote music for a number of leading Canadian performers like
Maureen Forrester
Maureen Kathleen Stewart Forrester, (July 25, 1930 – June 16, 2010) was a Canadian operatic contralto.
Life and career
Maureen Forrester was born and grew up in Montreal, Quebec, one of four children of Thomas Forrester, a Scottish cabinetmak ...
,
Paul Piché
Paul Piché (born September 5, 1953 in La Minerve, Quebec) is a singer-songwriter, environmentalist, political activist and Quebec sovereigntist.
He mostly composes on acoustic guitar, although some of his recent work has had some electronica ...
, and
Michel Rivard. In 1968 he, Paul de Margerie, and Marcel Lévêque were awarded a Montreal Festival du disque prize for ''3-12'', an LP for which the three men all worked together as conductors and arrangers. He received another prize from that same organization that same year for
Renée Claude
Renée Claude (born Renée Bélanger; July 3, 1939 – May 12, 2020) was a Canadian actress and singer Denise Ménard, Suzanne Thomas and Benoît L'Herbier"Renée Claude" ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', January 20, 2010. who was known as an inter ...
's recording of his arrangement of
Jacques Brel's song ''
Ne me quitte pas
"Ne me quitte pas" (''"Don't leave me"'') is a 1959 song by Belgian singer-songwriter Jacques Brel. It has been covered in the original French by many artists and has also been translated into and performed in many other languages. A well-known ...
''. For the
progressive rock
Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...
band
Harmonium
The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...
he wrote, arranged and conducted the orchestral score for their critically acclaimed double album ''
L'Heptade'' (1976). In 1993, he received the Prix de la Guilde from the
Guilde des musiciens du Québec.
["Neil Chotem"](_blank)
''The Canadian Encyclopedia''.
Biography
Chotem was born in
Saskatoon
Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as th ...
, and began studying the piano at the age of 5 at the Palmer School of Music. He became a pupil of
Lyell Gustin in 1930 with whom he studied for almost the next nine years. He also studied with
Jeannette Durno
Jeannette Durno (July 12, 1876 – September 5, 1963) was a Canadian-born American pianist.
Early life
Jeannette St. John was born in Walkerton, Ontario, the daughter of William Brethour St. John and Margaret Legge St. John. She was adopted b ...
in Chicago in 1934. He began his career as a concert pianist in the early 1930s, making his first appearance with an orchestra in 1933 playing
Camille Saint-Saëns's ''
Piano Concerto No. 2'' with the
Regina Symphony Orchestra
The Regina Symphony Orchestra (RSO) was founded by Frank Laubach, in Regina, Saskatchewan, as the ''Regina Orchestral Society'' in 1908, giving its inaugural concert December 3 of that same year. Becoming the ''Regina Choral and Orchestral Societ ...
. He was highly active as a concert pianist, recitalist, and radio performer in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749, ...
where he lived with his family between 1935 and 1939. The outbreak 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 opposing ...
interfered with his early career, although he did perform a number of recitals in western Canadian cities and appeared in concerts as a duo-pianist with
Gordon Kushner. From 1942 to 1945 he was a member of the
Royal Canadian Air Force
The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; french: Aviation royale canadienne, ARC) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environm ...
.
After leaving the RCAF, Chotem lived in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple ...
where he worked actively as not only a concert pianist by also a composer and conductor. He also continued further studies in piano with
Michel Hirvy
Michel may refer to:
* Michel (name), a given name or surname of French origin (and list of people with the name)
* Míchel (nickname), a nickname (a list of people with the nickname, mainly Spanish footballers)
* Míchel (footballer, born 1963), ...
from 1946 to 1950. As a pianist he made a number of recordings, gave concerts in many important Canadian concert halls, and worked as an arranger and performer for the program ''Music from Montreal'' from 1955 to 1960. In November 1946 he toured Canada as the accompanist for Austrian tenor
Richard Tauber
Richard Tauber (16 May 1891 – 8 January 1948) was an Austrian tenor and film actor.
Early life
Richard Tauber was born in Linz, Austria, to Elisabeth Seifferth (née Denemy), a widow and an actress who played soubrette roles at the local theat ...
and in 1947 he appeared on screen in the film ''
La Forteresse
La Forteresse () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France.
Geography
La Forteresse is located in the valley of Rival, and is about 550 meters away from Saint-Étienne-de-Saint-Geoirs.
History
La Forteresse belonged until 1 ...
'' playing
André Mathieu's ''Concerto de Québec''. He made his first appearance with the
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (TSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1906, the TSO gave regular concerts at Massey Hall until 1982, and since then has performed at Roy Thomson Hall. The TSO also manages the Toronto ...
playing
Sergei Rachmaninoff's ''
Piano Concerto No. 2'' and
César Franck
César-Auguste Jean-Guillaume Hubert Franck (; 10 December 1822 – 8 November 1890) was a French Romantic composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher born in modern-day Belgium.
He was born in Liège (which at the time of his birth was pa ...
's ''
Symphonic Variations'' on 4 April 1947. From 1946 to 1948 he played in a
jazz trio
A jazz trio is a group of three jazz musicians, often a piano trio comprising a pianist, a double bass player and a drummer. Jazz trios are commonly named after their leader, such as the Bill Evans Trio.
Variants and examples
Famous examples incl ...
with bassist
Lucien Gravel and drummer
Donat Gariépy, notably appearing in a series of broadcasts for
CBC Radio
CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
. He continued to perform regularly with Canadian orchestras and on Canadian radio and television up through the 1960s.
As conductor, Chotem made several recordings with the
CBC Montreal Orchestra and was a guest conductor with several prominent Canadian orchestras, including the
Montreal Symphony Orchestra
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 orch ...
(the summers 1969–1972), the
Quebec Symphony Orchestra
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
(1970–1972), and the
National Arts Centre Orchestra
The National Arts Centre Orchestra (NAC Orchestra) is a Canadian orchestra based in Ottawa, Ontario led by music director Alexander Shelley. The NAC Orchestra's primary concert venue is Southam Hall at the National Arts Centre. Since its incepti ...
among others. He also taught on the music faculties of several Canadian universities and conservatories, including
McGill University
McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...
(1955–1956, 1970–1976), the
University of Montreal
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
(1970–1972), and the
Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal
The Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal (CMQM) is a music conservatory located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In addition to the Montreal region, the school takes in students from nearby cities, including Granby, Joliette, St-Jean, S ...
(1973–1976) among others. Some of his notable pupils include
Hugh Davidson,
Marcel Lévêque,
Galt MacDermot
Arthur Terence Galt MacDermot (December 18, 1928 – December 17, 2018) was a Canadian-American composer, pianist and writer of musical theater. He won a Grammy Award for the song " African Waltz" in 1960. His most-successful musicals were '' Ha ...
, and
Art Phillips. He was an associate of the
Canadian Music Centre
The Canadian Music Centre was founded in 1959 by a group of Canadian composers who saw a need to create a repository for Canadian music. It now holds Canada's largest collection of Canadian concert music, and works to promote the music of its As ...
.
He died in
Greenfield Park, Quebec
Greenfield Park is a former city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is currently a borough of the city of Longueuil. It covers an area of , with a population of 16,733 at the 2016 census of Canada. Greenfield Park is the only borough of Longueu ...
, aged 87
Sources
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chotem, Neil
1920 births
2008 deaths
Canadian composers
Canadian male composers
Male conductors (music)
Canadian classical pianists
Male classical pianists
Conservatoire de musique du Québec à Montréal faculty
McGill University faculty
Canadian music educators
Université de Montréal faculty
Musicians from Saskatoon
20th-century classical pianists
20th-century Canadian pianists
Canadian male pianists
20th-century Canadian conductors (music)
20th-century Canadian male musicians