Malcolm Forsyth (1936–2011) was a musical legend: a much-loved composer, performer, teacher, and mentor. Reflections on Malcolm Forsyth presents a captivating and approachable portrait of one of Canada’s finest modern composers. Readers will discover both public and private sides to the man and gain fresh insights from critical assessments of a broad range of Forsyth’s compositions, his continuing popular appreciation, and his lasting influence on the next generation of musicians and music scholars. Drawing from the perspectives of leading scholars, composers, and musicians, as well as on those of family, friends, students, and colleagues, Reflections on Malcolm Forsyth honours the rich life and cultural significance of this exceptional creative mind. It is important reading for music students and researchers, professional performers, and anyone who loves contemporary music.

Contributors: Tommy Banks, Allan Gordon Bell, Nora Bumanis, Robin Elliott, Amanda Forsyth, Valerie Forsyth, Allan Gilliland, Carl Hare, Mary I. Ingraham, Edward Jurkowski, Ryan McClelland, John McPherson, Fordyce C. (Duke) Pier, Roxane Prevost, Kathy Primos, Tanya Prochazka, Leonard Ratzlaff, Rayfield Rideout, Robert C. Rival, Julia Shaw, Dale Sorensen, Christopher Taylor

Mary I. Ingraham is Professor of Musicology and Director of Sound Studies at the University of Alberta.

Mary I. Ingraham's profile page

Robert C. Rival is a composer and scholar who teaches at the University of Ottawa.

Robert C. Rival's profile page

Tommy Banks' profile page

Allan Gordon Bell's profile page

Nora Bumanis' profile page

Robin Elliott taught at University College Dublin for six years before assuming the Jean A. Chalmers Chair in Canadian Music at the University of Toronto in 2002. He has edited several books, including , with Gordon E. Smith, Istvan Anhalt: Pathways and Memory (2001) and with Friedemann Sallis and Kenneth DeLong, Centre and Periphery, Roots and Exile: Interpreting the Music of Istvan Anhalt and György Kurtág (WLU Press, 2009).

Gordon E. Smith is a professor of ethnomusicology at Queen’s University. Formerly director of the School of Music, he is currently Associate Dean in the Faculty of Arts and Science. His recent publications include Istvan Anhalt: Pathways and Memory (with Robin Elliott), Folk Music, Traditional Music, Ethnomusicology: Canadian Perspectives, Past and Present (2007); and Marius Barbeau: Modelling Twentieth-Century Culture (2008).

Robin Elliott's profile page

Amanda Forsyth's profile page

Valerie Forsyth's profile page

Allan Gilliland's profile page

Carl Hare in his long career has been a professor, actor, director, playwright, and poet. From the University of Alberta he won the Rutherford Gold Medal in English and later received an MA; he also has a Diploma in Acting from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. He founded the University of Victoria's Theatre Department, was the Artistic Director of Company One Theatre, taught at the National Theatre School in Montreal, and was Chairman of the Drama Department at the University of Alberta. For the Canada Council he was the first Chair of the BC/Yukon Division of the Explorations Program. He served on the Board of the Dominion Drama Festival, and was a BC member of the Canadian Conference of the Arts and one of the founders of the National Screen Institute - Canada. In 2012 he won the Sterling Award for Outstanding Contribution to Theatre in Edmonton. His most recent work includes performances of his play The Eagle and the Tiger and his adaptation of Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman; the setting of six of his children's poems to music by Canadian composer Malcolm Forsyth; a commissioned poem for Forsyth's A Ballad of Canada, performed by the National Arts Centre Orchestra; and A Weathering of Years, a collection of poetry published in 2015.

Carl Hare's profile page

Edward Jurkowski's profile page

Ryan McClelland's profile page

John McPherson's profile page

Fordyce C. (Duke) Pier's profile page

Roxane Prevost's profile page

Kathy Primos' profile page

Tanya Prochazka's profile page

Leonard Ratzlaff's profile page

Rayfield Rideout's profile page

Julia Shaw's profile page

Dale Sorensen's profile page

Christopher Taylor's profile page

"Reflections On Malcolm Forsyth has obvious interest for musicologists, but also tells an uncommon and compelling tale of an immigrant who fell under Canada’s spell."

Holly Doan