Denise Narcisse-Mair
Denise Narcisse-Mair | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 19, 1940 Kingston, Jamaica |
| Died | June 8, 2010 (aged 70) Carlisle, Ontario, Canada |
| Occupation(s) | Composer, conductor, music educator, musicologist |
| Academic background | |
| Education | |
| Academic work | |
| Discipline | Musicology, music education, music performance |
| Institutions |
|
Denise Lorraine Narcisse-Mair (19 January 1940 – 8 June 2010) was a Canadian musicologist, music educator, choral conductor, and composer. Narcisse-Mair was born in Kingston, Jamaica, on January 19, 1940.[1] Her mother was a pianist and her aunt was a composer and choral conductor at a convent in Kingston, where she spent her first 13 years learning music, languages, and faith.[2]
In 1957, Narcisse-Mair was awarded a scholarship to study piano performance at the Royal College of Music in London, England, where she also performed in the choir and played in the first violin section of the orchestra.[1][2] She received her licentiate in 1960 and graduated in 1961 from the Royal Academy of Music, where she also taught during those years.[1] She also married an English lawyer in 1961.[2] From 1961 to 1968 she taught at secondary and grammar schools in London and Kent. She became an associate of the Royal College of Music in 1969. She served as a lecturer, senior lecturer, and postgraduate studies coordinator at the Institute of Education from 1970 to 1971, receiving a bachelors in musicology from King's College London in 1971.[1][3] She later received a masters in education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education.[3]
In 1972, the Hungarian-Canadian composer István Anhalt hired Narcisse-Mair as an assistant professor and to conduct the Queen's Choral Ensemble at Queen's University at Kingston in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. She was appointed associate professor in 1976.[1][2]She served as a professor there until 1980 and was affiliated with the university until 1983.[4][5] From 1973 to 1975, she served as the choir-mistrees at St. Mary's Cathedral in Kingston.[2] In 1974, she was appointed the first female conductor of the Hart House Chorus at the University of Toronto, just two years after it began accepting women singers.[2][6] and she served as the first and only female conductor of the Bach-Elgar Choir for its 1980–1981 season.[7] She also taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music and McMaster University, and adjudicated Kiwanis Music Festivals.[2][3][8]
Narcisse-Mair died on June 8, 2010, aged 70, in Carlisle, Ontario, Canada.[5]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e Cohen, Aaron I. (1981). "Narcisse-Mair, Denise Lorraine". International Encyclopedia of Women Composers. New York: R. R. Bowker. p. 330. ISBN 978-0-8352-1288-5.
- ^ a b c d e f g Creet, Magda (22 February 1977). "Denise Narcisse-Mair: 'Out of Many, One'". The Kingston Whig-Standard. Kingston, Ont. p. 7. Archived from the original on 6 July 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c "1992 Brandon Festival of the Arts, Inc. Adjudicators". Advertisement. The Brandon Sun. 6 March 1992. p. 15 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ Smith, Gordon E. (2001). "The Kingston Years (1971–present)". In Elliott, Robin; Smith, Gordon E. (eds.). Istvan Anhalt: Pathways and Memory. Montreal & Kingston, Ont.: McGill–Queen's University Press. p. 70. doi:10.1515/9780773568754. ISBN 978-0-7735-6875-4 – via De Gruyter Brill.
- ^ a b "Bishop, Denise (née Narcisse-Mair)" (PDF). In Memoriam. Queen's Alumni Review. Vol. 84, no. 3. Queen's University at Kingston. 2010. p. 15. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 August 2024. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
- ^ "Denise Narcisse-Mair: Jamaican Conductor in Canada". The Gleaner. Kingston, Jamaica. The Globe and Mail. 22 March 1976. p. 4 – via NewspaperArchive.
- ^ Betts, Lorne; Church, Sarah (18 March 2021) [2007-06-25]. "Bach Elgar Choir of Hamilton". The Canadian Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 26 January 2025. Retrieved 6 July 2025.
- ^ "Black Music and Musicians in Canada". The Canadian Encyclopedia. 31 January 2014 [2007-05-14]. Archived from the original on 16 April 2020. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
- 1940 births
- 2010 deaths
- 20th-century Black British musicians
- 20th-century Black British women musicians
- 20th-century Black Canadian musicians
- 20th-century British musicians
- 20th-century Canadian composers
- 20th-century Canadian conductors (music)
- 20th-century Canadian educators
- 20th-century Canadian musicologists
- 20th-century Canadian women composers
- 20th-century Canadian women educators
- 20th-century English educators
- 20th-century English women educators
- Academic staff of McMaster University
- Academic staff of Queen's University at Kingston
- Academic staff of the University of Toronto
- Academics of the Royal College of Music
- Alumni of King's College London
- Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music
- Associates of the Royal College of Music
- Black Canadian women
- Canadian choral conductors
- Canadian music educators
- Canadian women conductors (music)
- Canadian women music educators
- Jamaican emigrants to Canada
- Musicians from Kingston, Ontario
- Musicians from the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
- University of Toronto alumni