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    Harry Adaskin fonds

    • Title:Harry Adaskin fonds
    •    
    • Author/Creator:Adaskin, Harry, 1901-1994.
    • Published/Created:1924-1997
    • Holdings

      • Location:UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES ASRS storageWhere is this?
      • Call Number:No call number available 
      • Number of Items:8
      • Status:Available
      • Location Has:Box 1-8.

       
    • Library of Congress Subjects:Adaskin, Harry, 1901-1994.
    • Description:1. 19 m of textual records.
      36 audio tapes. of film.
      27 photographs.
      8 audio discs.
      3 rolls
    • Summary:Fonds consists almost entirely of materials created or acquired by Harry Adaskin over the course of his life and career, and includes the manuscripts for his autobiographies, correspondence, scripts for radio broadcasts and lectures, newspaper clippings, concert programmes, photographs, films, and audio recordings. Also included are annotated copies of Adaskin's two autobiographies: A Fiddler's World (published in 1977), and A Fiddler's Choice (1982). Some correspondence addressed to his wife Frances after his death is also included. The fonds is organized in the following series: Autobiographies, Hart House String Quartet, Harry and Frances (Marr) Adaskin - Concerts, "Musically Speaking" Scripts, New York Philharmonic Broadcasts, "Tuesday Night" Scripts, Miscellaneous Writings, Correspondence, and Audio Tapes. Autographed Photographs, Audio Discs, and Films.
    • Biography/history note:Harry Adaskin was born in Riga, Latvia, in 1901, and later emigrated with his family to Toronto. As a child he learned to play the violin, and at the age of twelve he entered the Toronto Conservatory of Music. In 1923 he and three colleagues formed the Hart House String Quartet, in which Adaskin played second violin. Sponsored by Vincent and Alice Massey, it the first Canadian musical quartet to make an international reputation. The Quartet made many concert tours of North America and Europe, and in 1928 played at Maurice Ravel's New York debut. In 1938 he resigned from the Quartet, and as a freelance musician combined musical performance with a broadcasting career. He and his wife, pianist Frances Marr Adaskin, undertook a number of concert tours throughout Canada and the United States. For several seasons in the 1940's Adaskin was intermission commentator for the New York Philharmonic Orchestra's Sunday afternoon concerts, heard throughout Canada. He also hosted several CBC Radio programmes, including "Musically Speaking" and, later, "Tuesday Night". In 1946 he became head of the new Department of Music at UBC, a post which he held until 1958 ¡ he continued as a professor until his retirement in 1973. His circle of friends and acquaintances included Emily Carr, members of the Group of Seven, Vincent Massey, and Frank Lloyd Wright, as well as other prominent artists. Adaskin received the Order of Canada in 1974, and honorary doctorates from Simon Fraser University in 1979 and UBC in 1980. He died in 1994.
    • Indexes and finding aids:Inventory available.
    • Notes:Title based on the contents of the fonds.
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