Our History

The Canadian League of Composers was founded in 1951 in Toronto by a group of eight composers: John Weinzweig, Louis Applebaum, Harry Freedman, Andrew Twa, Murray Adaskin, Harry Somers, Philip Nimmons, and Samuel Dolin. The idea for the league grew from an informal discussion in February of 1951 between several of these composers at Weinzweig’s home. The first organizational meeting was held on 1 April 1951, and John Weinzweig was elected the first president of the CLC. The CLC’s activities were directed by a volunteer board of composers, a practice that still continues today.

In its early years, the League’s activities focused on increasing the performance and recording of Canadian music, with the goals of promoting new music in Canada and advancing the professional interests of composers. The CLC began to develop a small library of contemporary scores by Canadian composers, but soon realized the need for an independent agency to administer and increase the collection. A proposal for a new organization by John Beckwith and John Weinzweig to manage this collection and advocate for Canadian music resulted in the opening of the Canadian Music Centre in 1959. The CLC office is presently located in the CMC’s national office in Toronto.

For more detailed information on the Canadian League of Composers, please see the Canadian Encyclopedia entry on our organization written by Helmut Kallmann and Alexis Luko.

The CLC’s archives are housed in the National Library of Canada.