Rick Herbert Richard Wilkins (born 1 February 1937) is a Canadian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

,
Jazz Times
'. Vol. 26, Issues 1-5. Jazztimes; 1996. p. 116. conductor,
Covering Niagara: Studies in Local Popular Culture
'. Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press; 20 May 2010. . p. 235. and

tenor saxophonist The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (while th ...

.Jeff Sultanof.
Experiencing Big Band Jazz: A Listener's Companion
'. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers; 8 November 2017. . p. 150. He is primarily known for his work as an

arranger In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orches ...

. He has worked extensively for CBC and CTV arranging, rehearsing, and often conducting music for television and radio programs of pop-music and variety entertainments. He has arranged music for television specials featuring

Julie Amato Julie may refer to: * Julie (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Julie'' (1956 film), an American film noir starring Doris Day * ''Julie'' (1975 film), a Hindi film by K. S. Sethumadhava ...

Tommy Ambrose Thomas Ambrose (born 19 October 1939) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. Tommy Ambrose was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. At age four he began gospel singing at "Youth for Christ" rallies at Massey Hall, Maple Leaf Gardens, and elsewhere under ...

Guido Basso Guido Basso, (born 27 September 1937) is a Canadian jazz musician who was a member of Rob McConnell's Boss Brass big band. He is a trumpeter, flugelhornist, arranger, composer and conductor. Life and career Basso was born in Montreal, Quebec, ...

, the

Canadian Brass The Canadian Brass is a Canadian brass quintet formed in 1970 in Toronto, Ontario, by Charles Daellenbach (tuba) and Gene Watts (trombone), with horn player Graeme Page and trumpeters Stuart Laughton and Bill Phillips completing the quintet. , ...

Burton Cummings Burton Lorne Cummings (born December 31, 1947) is a Canadian musician, singer, and songwriter. He is best known for leading The Guess Who during that band's most successful period from 1965 to 1975, and for a lengthy solo career. Cummings has ...

Anne Murray Morna Anne Murray (born June 20, 1945) is a retired Canadian singer. Her albums, consisting primarily of pop, country, and adult contemporary music, have sold over 55 million copies worldwide during her over 40-year career. Murray was the fir ...

, and

Wayne and Shuster Wayne and Shuster were a Canadian double act, comedy duo formed by Johnny Wayne and Frank Shuster. They were active professionally from the early 1940s until the late 1980s, first as a live act, then on radio, then as part of ''The Army Show'' ...

among others. In 1976-1977 he worked as a music director for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

in Los Angeles, where among his projects was directing music for a number of specials starring the

Jackson Five The Jackson 5 (sometimes stylized as the Jackson 5ive, also known as the Jacksons) are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was founded in 1964 in Gary, Indiana, and for most o ...

Early life and education

Wilkins was born and raised in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

. While still in his teens he worked as a saxophonist and arranger with Jack Ryan's

dance band ''Dance Band'' is a 1935 British musical film directed by Marcel Varnel and starring Charles "Buddy" Rogers, June Clyde and Steven Geray. It was shot at Welwyn Studios with sets designed by the art director David Rawnsley. Plot When dance band ...

in the mid-1950s in Hamilton. In 1957, he moved to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

where he studied privately with

Gordon Delamont Gordon Arthur Delamont (27 October 1918 – 16 January 1981) was a Canadian music educator, author, composer, and trumpeter. He is best remembered for his work as an educator, having helped shape the talents of dozens of notable musicians in Toro ...

and at the Advanced School of Contemporary Music with

Phil Nimmons Phillip Rista Nimmons, (born June 3, 1923) is a Canadian jazz clarinetist, composer, bandleader, and educator. Nimmons is known for playing in a "Free Jazz" and mainstream styles. As well as playing jazz, Nimmons also played other genres, notab ...

Career

Wilkins performed with a number of dance bands in Toronto, including

Benny Louis Benny or Bennie is a given name or a shortened version of the given name Benjamin or, less commonly, Benedict, Bennett, Benito, Benson, Bernice, Ebenezer or Bernard. People Bennie Given name * Bennie M. Bunn (1907–1943), American Marine of ...

's band. In 1960, he started arranging music for Jack Kane and his orchestra with the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

. In 1970 he recorded an album of Christmas music with the band "Mutual Understanding". In the 1980s and 1990s he performed and recorded with the

Boss Brass Boss may refer to: Occupations * Supervisor, often referred to as boss * Air boss, more formally, air officer, the person in charge of aircraft operations on an aircraft carrier * Crime boss, the head of a criminal organization * Fire boss, ...

"Big band, small steps"
, Mark Miller, Toronto, ''The Globe and Mail'', January 25, 2003 and also recorded with the Ed Bickert Quartet.
Billboard
'. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.; 2 November 1985.

ISSN An International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) is an eight-digit serial number used to uniquely identify a serial publication, such as a magazine. The ISSN is especially helpful in distinguishing between serials with the same title. ISSNs ...

&nbs
0006-2510
p. 73. Wilkins became involved with arranging and writing music for

CBC Television CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

with whom he was active though the 1990s. He was a

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

nominee for Musical Score in a Non-Feature at the

1st Genie Awards The 1st Genie Awards were presented on March 20, 1980, and honoured films released in 1979.Jay Scott, "Changeling wins Genie as year's best movie". ''The Globe and Mail'', March 21, 1980. They were given out at a gala event at the Royal Alexandra T ...

in 1980 for his work on the CBC documentary series ''

Dieppe 1942 ''Dieppe 1942'' is a Canadian television documentary film, directed by Terence Macartney-Filgate and broadcast on CBC Television in 1979."37 years later, CBC stirs on Dieppe raid". ''The Globe and Mail'', November 10, 1979. An examination of Canada ...

''. The same year he scored the Canadian horror film '' The Changeling'', starring

George C. Scott George Campbell Scott (October 18, 1927 – September 22, 1999) was an American actor, director, and producer who had a celebrated career on both stage and screen. With a gruff demeanor and commanding presence, Scott became known for his port ...

. In 1994 Wilkins arranged and conducted the musical accompaniment for jazz pianist Oliver Jones' album ''From Lush to Lively''. Wilkins played with the Brass Connection II in 2000;"Band more earnest than audacious"
Mark Miller, ''The Globe and Mail'', Toronto, February 18, 2000 in 2002, he was 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 Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with ...

. Shortly after this he joined a "big band" organized by John MacLeod, another former Boss Brass player. In 2018 the Ensemble Vivant released an album of music arranged by him, ''Tribute to Rick Wilkins''."Tribute to Rick Wilkins - Ensemble Vivant with Guido Basso; Brian Barlow; Mike Murley"
''The Whole Note'', by Raul da Gama, 28 March 2018

Selected compositions

*''Rink Rat'' *''Who Asked''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilkins, Rick 1937 births Living people Canadian film score composers Canadian television composers Canadian male composers Male conductors (music) Male film score composers Male saxophonists Members of the Order of Canada Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario 21st-century saxophonists 21st-century Canadian conductors (music) 21st-century Canadian male musicians