Collection RC0385 - Eric Aldwinckle collection

Eric Aldwinckle was born in Oxford England on 22 January 1909. He came to Canada in 1922. He was an instructor at the Ontario College of Art from 1936 to 1942. In 1943 he went to Europe as an official war artist, serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force as a Flight Lieutenant. The paintings and drawings he created are part of the collection of the Canadian War Museum in Ottawa. After the war he returned to the OCA, later working for the Stratford Festival. He became a noted designer of heraldic crests and medals for several Canadian universities and a life-time member of the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto. Although known for his art, he did publish one musical composition in 1968. He died in January 1980.

Harry Somers, composer, pianist, and broadcaster, was born in Toronto on 11 September 1925 and studied at the Toronto Conservatory from 1942 to 1949. He composed orchestral, choral and vocal works, as well as music for film, television and the stage. In the 1960s he became a broadcaster with CBC radio and television programmes about music. He received three honorary doctorates and was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 1972. He died on 9 March 1999.