Ian Docherty

Ian Docherty

Ian (Donald) Docherty. Baritone, writer, b Winnipeg 25 Feb 1914, d Vancouver 26 Jan 2001. His teacher of voice, piano, and theory in Edmonton 1936-9 was Alexander Nizoff, who gave him a particular awareness of the 19th-century Russian tradition. He sang on CKUA radio and other stations and was a member of the Edmonton Male Chorus. In 1938 he was a founder and soloist of Opera Slav (a precursor of the Edmonton Opera Association). Continuing his studies with Marie Schilder in Vancouver, he sang 1941-52 on CBC radio as a Lieder and oratorio soloist and as a member of the CBR Singers. He became a CBC music commentator in 1949 and served 1957-61 as music critic for the Vancouver Province. He was program annotator 1966-83 for the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra and a regular columnist 1970-80 for the Kerrisdale Courier. For many years he was a contributor to the periodicals Musical America and Opera. He was the fine arts co-ordinator 1960-6 at the University of British Columbia and taught music history at the Community Music School of Greater Vancouver (Vancouver Academy of Music), and music journalism at the Vancouver Community College from 1976 to 1983, when he retired. In 1986 he established the Florence Mary Docherty Memorial Scholarship in cello at the Vancouver Academy in memory of his wife.