James Scott Irvine (born 30 December 1953) is 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 ...

composer,

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 orchestra ...

, and

tuba The tuba (; ) is the lowest-pitched musical instrument in the brass instrument, brass family. As with all brass instruments, the sound is produced by lip vibrationa buzzinto a mouthpiece (brass), mouthpiece. It first appeared in the mid-19th&n ...

player based in

Owen Sound Owen Sound ( 2021 Census population 21,612) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. The county seat of Grey County, it is located at the mouths of the Pottawatomi and Sydenham Rivers on an inlet of Georgian Bay. The primary tourist attr ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

. 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 A ...

and a member of the

Canadian League of Composers The Canadian League of Composers is an organization formed in 1951 of Canadian composers primarily interested in raising awareness and acceptance of Canadian music. Its activities are overseen and directed by an executive, and by a National Counci ...

, he has been commissioned to compose works by 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 governme ...

, the

Laidlaw Foundation The Laidlaw Foundation is a Canadian charitable foundation based in Toronto, Ontario. Founded in 1949 by Robert A. Laidlaw, the institution was established with the purpose of providing financial support for charitable, conservation, educational, a ...

, and the

Ontario Arts Council The Ontario Arts Council (OAC) is a publicly-funded Canadian organization in the province of Ontario whose purpose is to foster the creation and production of art for the benefit of all Ontarians. Based in Toronto, OAC was founded in 1963 by O ...

. His works have been recorded on a number of commercial releases, including CDs by Joan Watson,

Jack Grunsky Jack Grunsky (born July 1, 1945) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Grunsky's musical career has spanned two continents. More than three decades of recording and touring have earned him a wide following from both adult and children's audiences. ...

, the Canadian Chamber Ensemble, and the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

. Most of his compositions are written for concert band and brass instruments.

Early life and education

Irvine grew up in Toronto, Ontario. He studied tuba with Charles Daellenbach at the University of Toronto. He is a graduate 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 ...

where he studied

music composition Musical composition can refer to an original piece or work of music, either vocal or instrumental, the structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new piece of music. People who create new compositions are called c ...

with

Samuel Dolin Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bi ...

Career

Irvine was a member of the Hannaford Street Silver Band with whom he performed, composed, and recorded for more than 20 years. He played the tuba music featured on the children's television program ''

The Elephant Show ''The Elephant Show'' (from the second season onward, ''Sharon, Lois & Bram's Elephant Show'') is a Canadian preschool television show. The series premiered on CBC on October 8, 1984, and ended on February 26, 1989, after 65 episodes over five s ...

''. Irvine has been the principal tubist for the

Canadian Opera Company Orchestra 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 o ...

since 1984 and currently holds the same post with the

Esprit Orchestra The Esprit Orchestra is an orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that is dedicated to the performance of new orchestral works. It was established in 1983 by music director and conductor Alex Pauk, and is Canada's only full-sized orchestra de ...

. In 1997, he co-founded True North Brass with whom he has released four CDs, all of which feature some of his own compositions. In 2002, Irvine performed a joint concert with the Canadian Horn Quartet, billing himself as the Tuba Tyrant. The following year the Canadian Opera Company orchestra premiered his work "The Opera House Fanfare". Irvine performed as part of the Champagne Symphony Pops Orchestra in the "King of Swing" concert at Roy Thomson Hall in 2006. In 2009 he played the tuba with the New Music Concerts Ensemble in Toronto. In 2010, an album or recordings from the 1990s, ''Spoiled Bratland'', with Irvine on tuba, was released by Mendelson Joe. In 2015, Irvine performed with the Canadian National Brass Project as part of the Ottawa Chamberfest. In April 2017, he hosted an edition of the CBC Radio 2 show ''This is My Music''.

Family life

Irvine married musician

Joan Thelma Watson Joan Thelma Watson (June 28, 1953 – March 12, 2015) was a Canadian french horn musician and teacher. She served as principal horn of the Canadian Opera Orchestra and was a founding member of the True North Brass quintet. Life Watson was born ...

(1953–2015), who became the principal horn player of the Canadian Opera Orchestra (COC). They raised two sons together, Max and Joel.

References

External links

J. Scott Irvine websiteAubade Music websiteBio of Scott Irvine at the Canadian Music Centre
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irvine, Scott 1953 births Living people Canadian male composers Canadian tubists Musicians from Toronto The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni Place of birth missing (living people) 21st-century tubists 21st-century Canadian male musicians