Margo MacKinnon

MacKinnon, Margo

Margo (Christine) MacKinnon. Soprano, teacher, b Windsor, Ont, 21 Apr 1931; ARCT 1948, B MUS (Toronto) 1951; Artist Diploma (Toronto) 1954. She sang on radio station WJR in Detroit when she was about 14. Later she studied at the RCMT and at the University of Toronto with Herman Geiger-Torel, Dorothy Allan Park, Emmy Heim, and Ernesto Vinci. She obtained several scholarships between 1955 and 1957 and was a Rose Bowl winner at the Toronto Kiwanis Festival and at the CNE. During these years she sang with the TSO at pop concerts and appeared on several CBC TV programs, including 'The Big Revue' and 'Your Hit Parade.' After taking part in productions of Candide and Oklahoma! in 1955, she was seen in the annual revue Spring Thaw in 1956, 1957, and 1960. In addition she performed in 1957 on the CBS TV program 'Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.' In 1963 she married the clarinetist Al Baculis and moved to Montreal.

In 1966, in the SMCQ's inaugural concert, she performed Serge Garant'sAnerca and Ishtar's aria from R. Murray Schafer's opera Loving. Subsequently she premiered several works with the SMCQ Ensemble, including John Hawkins'Waves (1971), performed again in Paris and Brussels in 1973; Bruce Mather'sMadrigal V (1973); Gilbert Amy's Sonata pian' e forte (1974); and Jean Barraqué's Chant après chant (1979). In Montreal she also sang Alan Heard'sVoices in 1970 and Norma Beecroft'sRasas III in 1975. She sang and acted in the Quebec film Réjane Padovani and was a soloist on the soundtracks of the films Bingo and A Star Is Lost, and of several NFB films including If You Love This Planet. She has recorded more than 300 jingles. On CBC TV she sang with groups in variety programs and was a soloist in other programs, including the 1975 production of Neil Chotem's ballet Pythagore 1 à 7. She has taught singing at the Vanier Cegep in Ville St-Laurent (1977-86) and at Concordia University (1982-6).