Bev Fyfe

Beverly (Couper) Fyfe was born in Neepawa, near Winnipeg on October 13, 1909. Fyfe attended the Hambourg Conservatory in Toronto and studied in Washington State and California. After touring in the USA as a conductor of musical comedy Fyfe joined TUTS as a leading tenor in 1941 and became music director in 1945. He was the tenor soloist in the premiere, 3 Mar 1954, of Pentland’s The Lake with the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. In 1961 he became chorus master and a music director of the Vancouver Opera. In 1962 in Victoria he directed the Starlight Theatre and conducted Haydn’s The Creation. For the 1964 Vancouver International Festival he prepared the choruses in The Damnation of Faust and also prepared West Side Story. As the chorus master 1965-8 of the Vancouver Bach Choir he prepared the War Requiem and Belshazzar’s Feast the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. In 1990 Fyfe celebrated 30 years as chorus master for the Vancouver Opera Association.