George Crum (musician)

George Francis Crum (26 October 1926 in Providence, Rhode Island, USA – 8 September 2007 in Newmarket, Ontario, Canada) was the first conductor of the National Ballet of Canada and an accomplished pianist, vocal coach and musical arranger.

At the age of three, George Crum was brought to Canada. He attended Trinity College School in Port Hope and studied organ and piano with Edmund Cohu from the age of 12 to 16. Studies in piano also took place with lsie Bennett and Mona Bates in Toronto.

He made his recital debut at 16 at the Arts and Letters Club of Toronto.

From 1943-1947 he later studied theory and orchestration with Barbara Pentland and Ettore Mazzole, and opera coaching and conducting with Herman Geiger-Torel and Nicholas Goldschmidt at the Toronto Conservatory of Music. He also served as assistant to Goldschmidt and coach in the opera department.

Crum's debut as a conductor was with The Royal Conservatory of Music's opera division in 1948 in their production of Faust. Crum was the company's first chorus master, and stayed with the company as coach and assistant conductor for 3 years until 1951. He also taught on the piano faculty at the conservatory, notably instructing composer Hugh Davidson.

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