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George Fox
Augustus George Fox (born Fuchs), violinist, pianist (born 25 July 1870 in Galt, now Cambridge, ON; died 15 March 1913 in Toronto, ON). George Fox was a child prodigy who began his formal musical study relatively late, but developed quickly and drew comparisons to Mozart. Considered one of Canada’s best violinists, his playing was noted for its emotional warmth and rich tone.
Fox’s first public performance was accompanying his father, an amateur violinist, in “Carnival of Venice” at a concert in May 1874 in his hometown, Walkerton, Ontario. He also performed as a pianist at the Sängerfeste in Berlin (now Kitchener), Ontario, in 1875, and in Detroit in 1878.
He learned to read music only after he studied violin at age nine with Joseph Baumann in Hamilton. Fox’s remarkable ability to play Wieniawski’s Légende and de Bériot’s “Air varié No. 5” at age 10 attracted the attention of the famous violinist Eduard Remenyi. In an 1880 letter to a Chicago colleague, Remenyi compared Fox to the child Mozart.
As an adult, Fox appeared as a violinist in Canada, the Southern US, and Mexico, but made Toronto his home. His repertoire seems to have been limited. A photocopy of a scrapbook documenting his career is held at Library Archives Canada.
A version of this entry originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada.
