Cardo Smalley

Smalley, Cardo

Smalley, Cardo (Brooks). Violinist, violist, conductor, b London 13 Mar 1910, d Victoria, BC, 15 Sep 1977. He studied in Port Arthur (Thunder Bay), Ont, with his father, B. Gunton Smalley (1887-1942), a graduate of the RAM who moved to Canada in 1910, organized and conducted the Thunder Bay Philharmonic 1910-29, and was organist-choirmaster at the First Baptist Church.

In 1930 the younger Smalley performed as a solo violinist on CJOR radio, Vancouver. He continued his studies in Vancouver with Jean de Rimanoczy and William Primrose and, on scholarship, with Szymon Goldberg at the University of British Columbia. In 1932 he joined the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, becoming assistant concertmaster in 1937 and associate concertmaster in 1965. In 1933 he became concertmaster of the CNRV Concert Orchestra, a forerunner of the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra of which he was concertmaster until 1956 and a member until 1970. He was also concertmaster ca 1935-56 for concerts sponsored by BC Electric at the Malkin Bowl. Smalley was a leading Vancouver studio and radio musician, concertmaster 1944-5 of the CBR Symphony, and music director of the Gipsy Strings, a CBC radio orchestra which intermittently ca 1944-59 broadcast programs of Hungarian, Rumanian, and Russian gypsy music. Retiring from the Vancouver SO in 1967, Smalley was music director 1967-73 of the New Westminster Symphony Orchestra and a teacher 1970-3 at Douglas College (New Westminster). In 1973 he joined the Victoria Symphony Orchestra and began teaching at the Victoria Cons. The Vancouver jazz guitarist Felix Smalley was his brother.