Leyton-Brown, Howard

Howard Leyton-Brown was born in Melbourne, Australia in 1918. He began violin lessons at the age of seven and at twelve, obtained a three year university scholarship, eventually graduating with a Diploma of Music form Melbourne University. In 1937, Leyton-Brown moved to England with his mother and sister, where he continued to study the violin. He also went on to study in Germany and Belgium.

With the advent of the Second World War, Leyton-Brown joined the Royal Air Force, spending time in Estevan, Saskatchewan as an instructor as well as flying with the bombing command, which led to his receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross. In 1948, Leyton-Brown joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra as deputy concertmaster, eventually becoming concertmaster.

Doubts about the future of the London Philharmonic brought Leyton-Brown back to Estevan where he began to search for employment in Canada's music world. In 1952 he became head of the string department at the Conservatory of Music in Regina. In 1955, he became Director of the Conservatory, a position which he occupied until his retirement in June of 1986. His activities within the Department of Music at the University of Regina led to a Full Professorship in 1966.

Leyton-Brown has been an integral part of the Regina Symphony Orchestra, conducting the Symphony from 1960 to 1971 and becoming concertmaster in the mid-seventies. In 1971, Leyton-Brown completed a Doctorate of Musical Arts and Musical Performance at Ann Arbor, Michigan, at the same time Leyton-Brown had been appointed to the Canada Council for a four year term (1971 to 1974) and was also actively involved with the Saskatchewan Arts Board as a member from 1966 to 1972, and as Director in 1967

Leyton-Brown also taught at the American Congress of Strings in Cincinnati in 1984 and Dallas in 1985 and in 1986 he conducted the South Saskatchewan Youth Orchestra during its tour of China and Japan. During his career, Howard Leyton-Brown has been broadcast as a soloist with orchestra and in recital on CBC radio as well as in Australia, England, Iceland and Switzerland. He has appeared on numerous television programs, including two years of weekly chamber-music programs for CKCK TV in Regina.

Leyton-Brown was invested into the Order of Canada on April 29, 1987 and retired professor emeritus from the University of Regina in 1988, he received the Lifetime Award for Excellence in the Arts in 1991, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit in 1996, and in 2002 was awarded the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Medal.

Howard Leyton-Brown passed away in 2017.

Regina, Saskatchewan

RAD

Date of Creation; February 20, 2025

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Image credit: University of Regina Photography Department