James Gayfer

James McDonald Gayfer (26 March 1916 – 7 April 1997) was a Canadian bandmaster, clarinetist, composer, conductor, organist, military officer, and music educator. His compositional output encompasses several orchestral works, including two symphonies, numerous works for band and solo piano, a modest amount of chamber music, and several songs, hymns, and choral works. In 1944 his string quartet won the CPRS award and in 1947 his Six Translations from the Chinese for tenor and small orchestra won the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of Canada competition. In 1960 he wrote The Canadian Infantryman, the official march past of the Canadian School of Infantry. Although Gayfer's works remain unpublished, some of them have been recorded by a number of artists, including Howard Cable, David Mills, and the Edmonton Wind Ensemble. The band of the Royal 22^e Régiment continues to perform his works with some frequency. In 1983 he was awarded the Service Medal of the Order of St John.

Born in Toronto, Gayfer studied at the University of Toronto where he earned a Bachelor of Music in 1941. In 1942 he met Ralph Vaughan Williams and the two men went on to become lifelong friends. He pursued further studies in London where he earned an associates diploma at the Royal College of Music in 1946 and a licentiate from the Royal Academy of Music in 1947. He also attended courses at the Royal Military School of Music from 1945-1947. He returned to the University of Toronto, earning a Doctor of Music in 1950. Among his notable teachers were Jennie Goodman Bouck and Reginald Godden (piano), Maitland Farmer (organ), and Ettore Mazzoleni (orchestration), Arthur H. Middleton, and S. Drummond Wolff.