The Free Press Centennial Banquet, 1949
Date1949
Dimensions20.5 x 26.5 cm (opened)
Credit LineGift of Ms. Ella Moderwell Newel, and Ms. Mary Newel, 2013.
Object number2013.026.003
Label TextDon Wright was born in 1908 son of James Wright, owner of the Wright Piano Company of Strathroy, Ontario. Don began studying cello at seven and trumpet at ten. With his brothers, Clark (alto sax), Ernest (banjo), and William (drums), he organized the Wright Brothers’ Orchestra, which performed from 1922 through 1934 in various Ontario dance halls. They played summers from 1922 to 1925 at the Bright’s Grove Pavilion, and during this time Don was beginning to display his talents as an arranger and finding out how to produce big band sounds with few instruments. During the summers of 1926 through 1928, the brothers played the Port Elgin Casino. The band was in great demand in the winters and since the brothers were all attending the University of Western Ontario, the band became associated with that institution. From 1929 they toured, playing in Hamilton, Oshawa and Peterborough, and in 1930 were booked for the whole season at the Embassy, a top-flight night club in Toronto. Further engagements followed at the Brant Inn, Burlington (1931-1932) and the Terrace, Burlington (1932-1934). At the end of summer 1934 the group disbanded and each of the brothers went on to develop their own careers. Unfortunately there are no recordings of this band although they broadcast many times on local radio stations.
Don Wright began his teaching career in 1934 at Sir Adam Beck Collegiate in London, teaching classics and history but with a mandate to promote music in the school. He also resumed his position of director of the UWO Band where his innovations included herald trumpets, tall girl drum major, and dance music played on the rugby field at intermissions.
His success with music at Beck resulted in him becoming Director of Music for all London public schools in 1940, a position he held until 1946. During this time he wrote many books on music and arranged for changing voices. He and other volunteers (including Alf Tibbs and Gayle Gordon) put on three shows a week for troops at military bases throughout Southwestern Ontario. Don planned the shows, wrote all the music and conducted the band during the performances.
In 1946 Wright gave up his teaching career to become manager of CFPL Radio in London. He developed a staff orchestra with music directed and arranged by Neil McKay, and a choir which became known as the Don Wright Chorus. Soon both became well-known and were featured on regular coast-to-coast broadcasts. The Don Wright Chorus could be heard on CFPL Radio (London) Sunday evenings at 6:00, 9:00 and 10:00 pm, as well as occasionally on CBC Radio and Broadcasting (USA), sponsored by Westinghouse.
In 1957, Wright moved to Toronto, where he formed the Don Wright Singers (1957-62) and composed commercials and scores for films and TV, including the CBC’s “Trail of ‘98” (1958) and “Seaway to the World” (1959). He also composed Proudly We Praise (Thompson 1966), a tribute to Canada, which has been performed by school choirs across the country. As an educator he took a particular interest in the changing voice; his publications, choral and educational, included The Collegiate Choir (2 vols, Waterloo 1938, 1939), Youthful Voices (3 vols, Thompson 1945, 1949, 1954), Fun to Read Music (Thompson 1952), and Pre-teen Song Settings (Thompson 1961). His Fifty Years of Music with Don Wright, a photocopied collection of writings and music (20 vol, two cassettes) prepared in 1980, was distributed to Canadian universities and is also held at Library and Archives Canada.
In 1966, Wright began to establish music education scholarships in his own name. He extended his philanthropic endeavours by giving millions of dollars to university music programs, notably to Western, which renamed its music faculty after him in 2002. Wright died in 2006 at the age of 98.
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