Christopher Jackson

Jackson, Christopher

Christopher (Donald) Jackson. Organist, choirmaster, b Halifax, NS, 27 Jul 1948; premier prix organ (CMM) 1974. He studied 1966-9 at the École Vincent-d'Indy with Françoise Aubut (organ) and Jean-François Sénart (choral conducting) and 1970-4 at the CMM with Bernard Lagacé (organ) and Gilles Tremblay (analysis). He continued to study musicology, conducting, and organ 1972-4 at summer schools in the USA and Europe. He also gained practical experience in organ building. Besides making a systematic study of the historical organs of France and Quebec, he worked as a technician 1969-70 for Casavant Frères and in 1972 for Providence Organ (Guilbault-Thérien). He taught 1973-5 at Concordia University and in 1976 at McGill University, and returned to Concordia in 1978. In the summer of 1977 he taught harpsichord, organ, and choral singing at CAMMAC. He was organist-choirmaster of several churches in Montreal including St George's Anglican Church. Jackson has been heard often on CBC radio, and has given organ recitals and conducted choirs in several countries. He was a co-founder (1974) of the Société des Concerts d'orgue de Montréal and of the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal of which he was artistic director in 1991. In the collection Les Orgues anciens du Québec (vol 6), he recorded works by Bennett, Weale, Stanley, Boëly, and Brahms (1979, Alpec A-81033/7-RCI 538).