The Faculty of Music would like to thank Professors Jim Kippen, Dennis Patrick, and Cam Walter for their dedication to music and education, as well as their service to the University of Toronto and the academic music community at large.
We wish you all the best in your retirement!
JAMES KIPPEN
Professor Jim Kippen and his wife Dr. Annette Sanger joined the Faculty of Music in January 1990.
He studied under the pianist and conductor David Parry before developing an interest in Hindustani music and Javanese gamelan at the University of York (UK) under Neil Sorrell. He studied Social Anthropology and Ethnomusicology under John Blacking and John Baily at Queen’s University, Belfast.
His doctoral research in Lucknow, India, dealt with tabla drumming in its sociocultural context, particularly as interpreted by his teacher, the hereditary master Afaq Hussain Khan. He held two post-doctoral fellowships for computer-assisted musical analysis, and taught Anthropology and Ethnomusicology courses at Queen’s before joining the University of Toronto.
Since then he has been awarded three major research grants from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada to pursue investigations into cultural concepts of time in Indian music and society, and the changing theory and practice of rhythm and metre in Hindustani music. He continues to study and practise both tabla and pakhavaj drums. He also studies and performs Balinese gendèr wayang music with the ensemble Seka Rat Nadi.
Prof Kippen, who once was a babysitter for Beatles producer George Martin’s children, also taught a popular course on the Beatles.
A symposium and concert were held in March 2019 to celebrate and honor Prof Kippen and Dr. Sanger.
DENNIS PATRICK
Composer Dennis Patrick received his Bachelor of Music in 1974 and Master of Music in composition in 1975 from U of T Music and was appointed to teach at the Faculty in 1977.
Dennis Patrick went on to be the longtime Director of the Electronic Music Studio as well as prolific concert producer with the annual New Music Festival. He composed music for several award-winning radio plays written by the Canadian authors Timothy Findley and Michael Ondaatje, including The English Patient, The Trials of Ezra Pound, In the Skin of a Lion, and Famous Last Words.
Alumna Dr. Lynn Kuo performing “Squamish” by Dennis Patrick and Michael Pepa.CAM WALTER
Dr. Cam Walter was appointed Assistant Professor of Music Education and Performance at the Faculty of Music starting July 1, 1994 to conduct the Concert Band, coach brass chamber ensembles, teach applied trombone and euphonium as well as courses in instrumental music education and jazz education.
Dr. Walter received his Bachelor of Music in 1975 and Master of Music in 1976 from the Faculty. He received his Doctorate of Education from the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education in 1994. Prior to his appointment he taught for the Scarborough and Etobicoke Boards of Education as well as the Toronto French School and Royal Conservatory of Music.
