Bruce Holder

{{Short description|Canadian musician (1905–1987)}}

Bruce Edward Holder Sr. (January 8, 1905 – August 27, 1987) was a Canadian composer, conductor,{{cite book|author=Li Robbins|title=Don Messer's Violin: Canada's Fiddle|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Y8BGpu1KE8C|date=October 2005|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Societe Radio-Canada|isbn=978-0-660-19489-9|page=15}} and violinist.{{cite book|author=New Brunswick Museum|title=Annual Report|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T31WAAAAMAAJ|year=1943|page=24}}{{cite book|title=The Canadian Railway Employees' Monthly: 1935-1936| year=1935 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tnfNAAAAMAAJ|volume=21-22|publisher=Canadian Brotherhood of Railway Employees|page=72}} He helped to conduct, teach, and found many music groups, including Symphony New Brunswick,[https://www.telegraphjournal.com/tribune/story/39052191/end-of-an-era?source=story-related "End of an era"]. The Tribune. Sep 2, 2014. the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra,[http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/new-brunswick-youth-orchestra-emc/ "New Brunswick Youth Orchestra"]. The Canadian Encyclopedia. and the Third Field Artillery Band,{{cite book|author1=Lee Windsor|author2=Roger Sarty|author3=Marc Milner|title=Loyal Gunners: 3rd Field Artillery Regiment (The Loyal Company) and the History of New Brunswick's Artillery, 1893-2012|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KTqpDQAAQBAJ&pg=PT459|date=15 September 2016|publisher=Wilfrid Laurier University Press|isbn=978-1-77112-256-6|page=459}} which earned him his nickname, Mr. Music of Saint John.

Early life and education

Holder was born in Saint John, New Brunswick. He took violin lessons as a child, and later studied conducting in Hancock, Maine, under Pierre Monteaux.{{cite book|author=Faye Somers|title=Saint John Vocational School: In Retrospect|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EaucQjXUtcAC&pg=PA96|year=2001|publisher=DreamCatcher Publishing|isbn=978-1-894372-14-5|page=96}}

Career

Holder worked at the Ocean Steel and Construction Company.[http://rusinb.com/newsletters/2017-02-07.pdf "One of Our Own"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180413125117/http://rusinb.com/newsletters/2017-02-07.pdf |date=2018-04-13 }}. Newsletter of the Royal United Services Institute of New Brunswick. 2017-02-07. In 1948 Holder was a volunteer with the Saint John Salvage Corps. For fifteen years, beginning in the 1940s, he led the CBC Radio orchestra for the programs Holiday for Strings, Music Styled for Strings, and Fanfare.{{cite book|title=Canadian National Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ui0yAAAAIAAJ|year=1937|publisher=Canadian National Railways.|page=93}} 1945 he opened a record store in Saint John. In 1950 Holder became first violinist of the Saint John Symphony Orchestra."Dealer Doings" {{cite book|title=Billboard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8B0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24|date=25 November 1950|publisher=Nielsen Business Media, Inc.|page=24|issn=0006-2510}}

In 1957 he began teaching music at Saint John Vocational School, and in 1967 he was assistant conductor of the New Brunswick Youth Orchestra.{{cite book|title=MusiCanada|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1CAKAQAAMAAJ|volume=1-23; Issues 25-26; Issue 29|year=1967|publisher=The Centre|page=15}}

References

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