John Francis Oscar Arpin (3 December 1936 – 8 November 2007) was a

Canadian Canadians () 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 their being ''C ...

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 def ...

recording artist A musician is someone who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate a person who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters, ...

and

entertainer An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms. Types of entertainers

* Acrobat * Actor * Archimime * Barker (occupation), Barker * Beatboxer * Benshi * Bouffon * Cheerleader * Circus arts, Circus perform ...

, best known for his work as a virtuoso

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that had its peak from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its Syncopation, syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers ...

pianist A pianist ( , ) is a musician who plays the piano. A pianist's repertoire may include music from a diverse variety of styles, such as traditional classical music, jazz piano, jazz, blues piano, blues, and popular music, including rock music, ...

. Born in Port McNicoll,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Arpin studied piano at

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 C ...

, earning his ARCT diploma in 1953. He also studied at the Faculty of Music,

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

. Arpin performed and toured widely. He died 8 November 2007 in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Recording career

Arpin recorded more than sixty albums, mostly of

, but also played Broadway music,

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom.S. Frith, W. Straw, and J. Street, eds, ''iarchive:cambridgecompani00frit, The Cambridge Companion to Pop ...

, and

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

. In 2002, he recorded seven CDs of piano solo music on the April Avenue record label. These albums consisted of favorite Broadway themes and familiar pop tunes. While just two compilations are still available in CD format, most of the other tracks can still be found on

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

. Here is a complete list: *A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square *All The Way *An Affair To Remember *Any Dream Will Do *As Time Goes By *Bewitched *Blue Moon *Brian's Song *Cabaret *Call Me Irresponsible *Cheek To Cheek *Climb Every Mountain *Dear Heart *Don't Cry For Me Argentina *Edelweiss *Fly Me to the Moon *Georgia on My Mind *Getting To Know You *Have You Met Miss Jones? *Hello Young Lovers *Here *I Didn't Know What Time It Was *I Left My Heart in San Francisco *I Only Have Eyes For You *I Will Wait For You *If I Loved You *Isn't It Romantic? *It Had To Be You *It Might As Well Be Spring *It's Impossible *I've Got You Under My Skin *Jean *Killing Me Softly *La Mer *Little Girl Blue *Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing *Mame *Manhattan *Memory *Misty *Moon River *More *Mountain Greenery *My Funny Valentine *My Romance *My Way *Nadia's Theme *Oh What a Beautiful Morning *On The Street Where You Live *Once Upon A Time *Over The Rainbow *People *People Will Say We're in Love *Put on a Happy Face *Que Sera *Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head *Sera *Smile *Smoke Gets in Your Eyes *Some Enchanted Evening *Spanish Eyes *Spring Is Here *Star Dust *Stranger on the Shore *Tammy *The Blue Room *The Days of Wine And Roses *The Entertainer *The Look of Love *The Music of the Night *The Shadow of Your Smile *The Sound of Music *The Surrey with the Fringe on Top *The Way We Were *Theme From "Nicholas And Alexandra" *There And Everywhere *There's A Small Hotel *Till There Was You *Tomorrow *Unchained Melody *Unforgettable *We Kiss in a Shadow *What I Did For Love *What Kind of Fool Am I? *When I Fall in Love *Where Or When *Who Can I Turn To? *With A Song in My Heart *Yesterday *You Took Advantage of Me

Performances

Arpin performed as a solo entertainer and with orchestras throughout the world. In

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, he performed with

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 British cabinetma ...

and Peter Appleyard. He made several appearances at the

Mariposa Folk Festival Mariposa Folk Festival is a Canadian music festival founded in 1961 in Orillia, Ontario. It was held in Orillia for three years before being banned because of disturbances by festival-goers. After being held in various places in Ontario for a fe ...

, the St. Louis Ragtime Festival, and the Scott Joplin Festival in Sedalia, Missouri. In the Toronto area, he performed regularly in bars, clubs, and hotel lounges, notably The King Edward Hotel, The Ports of Call, The Windsor Arms, Mr. Tony's, and Pearcy House.

Awards

Arpin was nominated three times for

Juno Award The Juno Awards (stylized as JUNOS), or simply known as the Junos, are awards presented by Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences to recognize outstanding achievements in Canada's mu ...

s, given to show excellence in Canadian music. In June 1998, he won the

Scott Joplin Scott Joplin (November 24, 1868 – April 1, 1917) was an American composer and pianist. Dubbed the "King of Ragtime", he composed more than 40 ragtime pieces, one ragtime ballet, and two operas. One of his first and most popular pieces, the ...

Award from the Scott Joplin Foundation of Sedalia, Missouri.

Critical acclaim

Ragtime great

Eubie Blake James Hubert "Eubie" Blake (February 7, 1887 – February 12, 1983) was an American pianist and composer of ragtime, jazz, and popular music. Blake began his career in 1912, and during World War I he worked in partnership with the singer, drum ...

pronounced John Arpin "the Chopin of Ragtime", while

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

labeled him "the Richter of Ragtime". ''

High Fidelity High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion, and a flat (neutral, uncolored) ...

'' magazine said of one of his albums: "This is the best recorded collection of piano rags that I know of and is, I suspect, the most authentically performed."

Compositions

Notable among his own compositions are "Jogging Along" (a theme song for the acclaimed

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

radio program '' Morningside''). He also composed the theme for

TVOntario TVO (stylized in all lowercase as tvo), formerly known as TVOntario, is a Canadian Public broadcasting, publicly funded English-language educational television network and media organization serving the Canadian province of Ontario. It operates ...

's children's shows, Polka Dot Door and Polka Dot Shorts and wrote the music for the shows. Arpin also composed the themes for several CTV network shows in the 1960s. His "Lyric Suite for Piano, Strings and Percussion" won first prize out of 450 entrants in the Yamaha Second International Original Concert in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. He also arranged music for several Canadian recording acts. In 2005, he was commissioned by

St. Michael's Choir School St. Michael's Choir School (also known as SMCS, The Choir School, or St. Mike's Choir) is a semi-Independent school, private Catholic Church, Catholic Cathedral school, choir school for boys from Educational stage, grades 3-12 in Toronto, Ontario, ...

(Toronto) to compose and arrange a "medley" of Christmas tunes which he titled "Yuletide on the Cool Side". It was very warmly received in its premiere on a concert tour across Canada.

References

External links

Encyclopedia of Music in Canada entryArpin's personal web siteJohnAndMaryJane.blogspot Blog maintained by Arpin's wife
{{DEFAULTSORT:Arpin, John Francis Oscar 1936 births 2007 deaths Musicians from Simcoe County University of Toronto alumni The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Canadian male composers Canadian pop musicians Canadian classical pianists Canadian male classical pianists Musicians from Toronto 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian male musicians