Robert Edward Creech (26 September 1928 – 20 December 2019) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

french horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

ist,

music educator Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do original ...

, and

arts administrator The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both h ...

. He served as Director of the Canadian Music Council from 1975–1979 and Chairman of the Arts Advisory Council of the

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

from 1976-1978. In 1991, he was appointed the Chief Executive of the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Society. Creech was Principal French Horn with numerous orchestras during his career, including the

Victoria Symphony The Victoria Symphony is a Canadian orchestra based in Victoria, British Columbia. It is considered Vancouver Island's best-known active performing arts organization. Currently conducted by Danish conductor Christian Kluxen, the orchestra consists o ...

(1944–1946), the

Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra (WSO) is a Canadian orchestra based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Its primary concert venue is the Centennial Concert Hall, and the orchestra also performs throughout the province of Manitoba. The WSO presents an average ...

(1949–1952), the

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 ...

(1946–1948 and 1958–1974), the

CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra The CBC Radio Orchestra was a Canadian orchestra based in Vancouver, British Columbia, that was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Until the early 1980s CBC had a number of orchestras located in Winnipeg, Toronto, Montreal, and Hal ...

(1958–1976), and the Stratford Festival Orchestra (1964-1969). He also played 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 ...

(1952–1955) and the

CBC Symphony Orchestra The CBC Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de la SRC; CBCSO/OSSRC) was a radio orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the 1950s and 1960s. History The CBCSO was f ...

(1955–1958). An active chamber musician, he notably performed and recorded with the

Vancouver Woodwind Quintet The Vancouver Woodwind Quintet (VWQ) was a Canadians, Canadian wind quintet based in Vancouver, British Columbia that was active during the late 1960s and 1970s. The quintet performed roughly 40 concerts a year, both in Vancouver and on tour throu ...

from 1968–1976 and made recordings with the Baroque Strings and the Purcell String Quartet. Born in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. The ...

, Creech attended the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...

(UBC) and the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia and studied french horn over a period of six years with Mason Jones, principal horn with the Philadelphia Orchestra. From 1959-1976, he taught on the music faculty of the University of British Columbia and from 1970-1985 he was Artistic and Executive Director of the Courtenay Youth Music Centre. During the 1960s, he was highly involved with the Vancouver Community Arts Council and was instrumental in helping establish the

Vancouver Academy of Music The Vancouver Academy of Music (VAM) is a Canadian music conservatory located in Vancouver, British Columbia. The school was founded as the Community Music School of Greater Vancouver in 1969 through efforts made by the Vancouver Community Arts C ...

where he occasionally taught classes. In 1973, he founded the music department at

Vancouver Community College Vancouver Community College is a public community college in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Founded in 1965, it is the largest and oldest community college in British Columbia, offering 91 certificate programs, 31 diploma programs, and 3 bac ...

, serving as its Director through 1976. He was a Full Professor at the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a public research university in London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by residential neighbourhoods and the Thames R ...

from 1976–1989 and served as the Vice-Principal of

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 as The Toronto Con ...

from 1987-1991. Creech moved to Ireland in 1994 where he managed an international arts consultancy (Arts Services Partnership), which has prepared a number of extensive reports for the Canadian and British Columbia governments. He was involved, as a volunteer, in music and arts projects in Ireland, including Summer Music on the Shannon/Summer Music in Galway. He died on 20 December 2019 at the age of 91.IN MEMORIAM , Canadian Horn Player Robert Creech Has Died
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Creech, Robert 1928 births 2019 deaths Canadian horn players Curtis Institute of Music alumni University of British Columbia alumni University of Manitoba alumni Academic staff of The Royal Conservatory of Music Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Academic staff of the Vancouver Academy of Music