UTNMF: Solo Piano Music Composed by Past and Current Presidents of the Canadian League of Composers | A Concert in Celebration of the CLC’s 75th Anniversary in 2026

Program curated and performed by John Burge

With so many short pieces, please hold applause until the end of each half.

John Burge is grateful to James Rolfe for providing introductory remarks to the first half of this concert and Tyler Versluis taking over the microphone in the second half.

By way of a musical land acknowledgement, this concert will begin with the movement, TRILLIUM, from Beverley McKiver’s CANADIAN FLORAL EMBLEMS.

PROGRAM

SWING A FUGUE

John Weinzweig

President Tenure: 1951 – 1957, 1959 – 1963

RONDO from SUITE No. 1

Jean Papineau-Couture

1957 – 1959, 1963 – 1966

PRELUDE No. 1 from FOUR PRELUDES

Srul Irving Glick

1966 – 1969

dedicated to Walter Buczynski

PRELUDE FOR JOHN WEINZWEIG

Samuel Dolin

1969 – 1973

LATVIAN DANCE No. 2 – THE MERRY REEL

Talivaldis Kenins

1973 – 1974

PRELUDE No. 24 from THE AUGUST COLLECTION

Walter Buczynski

1974 – 1975

Like Kenins and Buczynski, there were 3 other one-year Presidents: James Montgomery 
(1978-79), Paul McIntyre (1982-83), Paul Steenhuisen (2006-2007). 
However, due to constraints of time and lack of short piano pieces in their output, their music hasn’t been programmed. Their CLC leadership is honoured at this spot in the program.

RENT-A-RAG

Harry Freedman

1975 – 1978

TO LIVIA (BERCEUSE)

Victor Davies

1979 – 1982

PHOTOGRAPH from BEYOND

Alex Pauk

1983 – 1989

transcribed for piano by John Burge

MOVEMENT 3 from THE MASKS OF ASTARTE

Patrick Cardy

1989 – 1992

THE ANGLO TANGO

Rodney Sharman

1993 – 1998

Intermission

FROM TINY ACORNS

John Burge

1998 – 2006

composed in tribute to the CLC’s 75^th Anniversary

MOVEMENT 4, “Playfully,” from FOUR ALIBIS

James Rolfe

2007 – 2011

ERASING/ERASED

Jennifer Butler

2011 – 2014

a new piece composed for John Burge to play on this program

INTERLUDE from SEWING THE EARTHWORM

Brian Harman

2014 – 2016

STILL

Christopher Reiche

2016 – 2020 

TOCCATA from INVENTION AND TOCCATA

Sophie Dupuis

2020 – 2023

LEGEND from THREE MELODIES

Tyler Versluis

2023 – present

Segue into O CANADA

About this concert:

The Canadian League of Composers was founded at John Weinzweig’s Toronto home in 1951 with an initial membership of eight composers: Murray Adaskin, Louis Applebaum, Samuel Dolin, Harry Freedman, Phil Nimmons, Harry Somers, Andrew Twa and John Weinzweig. Weinzweig was the oranization’s first president and was later named President Emeritus. The group’s immediate purpose was to create opportunities for the commissioning, performing, recording and broadcasting of Canadian classical music, with a particular focus on addressing the lack of Canadian classical music heard on CBC and performed by the country’s symphony orchestras. Leading by example, in its first fifteen years, the CLC successfully staged concerts of Canadian music in many cities across Canada and helped launch the Canadian Music Centre in 1959. From the beginning, the CLC has always been directed by a volunteer board of directors and today, the CLC continues to support Canadian composers through many activities including mentorship, workshops, advocacy, international outreach and awards. This piano recital of music composed by past presidents of the Canadian League of Composers was assembled by John Burge (himself a past president) as a way of paying tribute to the CLC in 2026, the organization’s 75^th anniversary. 

It seems fitting that this concert be presented in Toronto, and more specifically at the University of Toronto, given the large number of past presidents who called Toronto home, taught at the University of Toronto or attended the university. Past presidents who were on faculty at U of T include John Weinzweig, Talivaldis Kenins and Walter Buczynski along with James Rolfe, who currently teaches composition there. The other Toronto based past presidents include, Srul Irving Glick, Samuel Dolin, Harry Freedman, Victor Davies, Alex Pauk, Brian Harman, Christopher Reiche and the current president, Tyler Verslius. The program also includes music composed by past presidents, Jean Papineau-Couture, Patrick Cardy, Rodney Sharman, John Burge, Jennifer Butler, and Sophie Dupuis. James Montgomery, Paul McIntyre and Paul Steenhuisen each served a one-year term as president, but are not included on this program due to the constraints of time and a lack of short piano pieces in their output. They are acknowledged here, in writing, for their leadership. Still, the resultant program of eighteen short piano pieces, covers an impressive range of musical styles and compositional techniques and has an historical trajectory that condenses 75 years of the Canadian League of Composers into approximately 75 minutes of music.

About John Burge:

Composer and pianist, John Burge, taught at Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, for 38 years before retiring as a Professor Emeritus in 2025. Many of Burge’s orchestral works, such as Snowdrift, The Canadian Shield and Rocky Mountain Overture, have been performed by orchestras across Canada and internationally. His string orchestra work, Flanders Fields Reflections, as recorded by Sinfonia Toronto, received the 2009 Juno Award for the Best Canadian Classical Composition. In 2014 he was inducted into the Royal Society of Canada for his achievements as a composer and support of the Arts in Canada. Having completed his Associate Diploma from the Royal Conservatory of Toronto in Piano Performance while still in high school, John Burge has continued to perform throughout his career, usually in presentations of his own music. A passionate advocate for Canadian music, he served on the executive committee of the Canadian League of Composers from 1993-2007 (including eight years as President) and on the SOCAN Foundation board of directors from 2009-2025, as well as on the boards of a number of arts organizations in the Kingston area.