Harriss, Charles A(lbert) E(dwin)
Harriss, Charles A(lbert) E(dwin)
Harriss, Charles A(lbert) E(dwin), English-Canadian organist, conductor, impresario, and composer; b. London, Dec. 16-17 (midnight), 1862; d. Ottawa, July 31, 1929. He was the son of the English musician Edwin Harriss. After studies with Sir Frederick Ouseley at St. Michael’s Coll., Tenbury (1873–75), he was organist and choirmaster in Reading and Welshpool. In 1882 he went to Ottawa as organist at St. Alban the Martyr. In 1883 he went to Montreal as organist and choirmaster at Christ Church Cathedral, and then was his father’s successor in those capacities at St. James the Apostle (1886–94). Having married into wealth in 1897, he subsequently was able to pursue his interests as an impresario and traveler. He organized various concerts, festivals, and performing groups in Canada and England, and also served as the first director of the McGill Cons. in Montreal (1904–07). His works include the operas Torquil (1894) and The Admiral (1902), Canadian Fantasie for Orch. (1904), Festival Mass (1901), Coronation Mass for Edward VII (1903), cantatas, the ode The Crowning of the King (1911), anthems, songs, and keyboard pieces.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire