Gordon Hilker

(John) Gordon Hilker – B COM (British Columbia) 1934.  Impresario, producer, born in Vancouver in 1913, died in 1991. His mother was a music teacher and he studied piano for some 12 years. In 1936 he brought Martha Graham and her dancers to Vancouver, in 1937 he initiated the Greater Artists Series, and in the late 1930s he incorporated Hilker Attractions, which presented leading artists in Vancouver and in the later 1940s throughout western Canada, continuing to operate until 1950. He negotiated with the Vancouver Parks Board for the use of Malkin Bowl for a special paid-admission summer concert in 1938 which established a precedent, paving the way for TUTS. In fact, when TUTS was ready to open in 1940, Hilker’s advice was enlisted and he subsequently produced its shows and tours until 1949. In the 1950s he was occupied mainly as an organizer of centennial celebrations, first in Ontario for Kitchener and St Thomas, and 1956-8 in British Columbia for the province. He was publicity director in 1957 and general manager 1958-64 for the Vancouver International Festival, artistic director 1964-7 of the World Festival at Expo 67, and artistic director in 1968 of the Vancouver International Festival. He left Canada to serve 1968-72 as director of the School of Performing Arts in San Diego, and continued to be associated with the school after that. In 1974 he did the artistic planning for Expo 74 in Spokane, Wash.  He retired in 1991.