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Surdin, Morris, 1914-1979

Biography"Surdin, Morris. Composer, arranger, conductor, b Toronto 8 May 1914, d there 19 Aug 1979. At six he began violin lessons with Louis Gesensway in Toronto, and soon the lessons were expanded to include counterpoint and harmony. Gesensway moved in 1926 to the USA to play in the Philadelphia Orchestra, and in 1937 Surdin joined him for a further year of study. He also studied conducting in 1945 with César Borré in Toronto and composition in 1950 with Henry D. Brant in New York. A conductor and a composer of incidental music for the CBC (on staff 1939-41 and freelance after l947), Surdin also worked in the USA as an arranger for the Philadelphia Pops and as a composer and conductor l949-54 for the CBS network. With the playwright Ray Darby he collaborated on several CBC radio productions, including the musical comedy The Gallant Greenhorn (l949) and the series 'Once upon a Time' (l949, directed by Esse Ljungh, later also produced for CBS as 'Once upon a Tune'). Surdin wrote the music for almost all of W.O. Mitchell's radio plays, including the series 'Jake and the Kid' (l950-72), a light-hearted situation comedy set in a Saskatchewan farming community. He composed incidental music for 'CBC Playhouse,' 'CBC Stage' (continuing his association with Ljungh), 'Adventure Theatre,' 'Festival,' and 'Hatch's Mill' and the film score for the Hollywood feature Hospital (1971). Several of his works were commissioned: The Remarkable Rocket (196l, for the National Ballet of Canada), two accordion concertos (l966 and l976, both for Joseph Macerollo), Wild Rose (1967, with W.O. Mitchell for the Mac l4 Theatre Society of Calgary), Suite Canadienne and A Feast of Thunder (1970 and l972, for the Shevchenko Musical Ensemble of Toronto, with whom he toured the Ukraine in l970), Eine Kleine Hammer-Klapper Musik (l976, for the TS), and a Viola Concerto (l978, for Rivka Golani)."--https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/morris-surdin-emc