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Foreman, Charles
Charles (Lindsay) Foreman. Pianist, teacher, b East Chicago, Ind, 11 May 1949; B MUS (Indiana) 1971, Artist Diploma (Toronto) 1972, M MUS (Toronto) 1973. Before moving to Canada in 1972 Foreman studied piano with Rudolf Reuter in Chicago and Abbey Simon at Juilliard. At the University of Toronto his teachers were Anton Kuerti and Katharina Wolpe. He made his debut with the Chicago Civic Orchestra in 1972, playing Brahms's Piano Concerto No. 2. Foreman was twice awarded Canada Council grants to study and perform in Europe. In 1975 he won the Queen Elisabeth Competition in Brussels.
Foreman's repertoire is large and eclectic: it features the music of Liszt and of 20th-century composers, including many Canadians, and also includes ragtime pieces. Foreman has performed a prolific number of solo recitals since 1972 in North America and Europe, and participated in a similar number of chamber music performances with artists such as Robert Aitken, James Campbell, Steven Dann, Lea Foli, Phyllis Mailing, and Gerald Stanick. He performed with the Shawnigan Trio 1990-8. As soloist, he has appeared with Canadian orchestras, including frequent engagements with the Calgary Philharmonic. Between 2002 and 2005, Foreman performed the 32 piano sonatas of Beethoven, in a series of nine concerts; from 1999 to 2001 he performed a 10-recital series of 20th-century piano music. In September 2006 he began a nine-concert series of Chopin's 153 works for solo piano, the first time a Canadian has undertaken this cycle.
His performances have been broadcast on radio in the US and Europe, and on the CBC, for which he has also been a host.
Recordings
Foreman has made recordings both as soloist and chamber musician, winning a Canadian Music Council award in 1982. Among the Canadian composers whose works he has recorded are Alexander Brott (Invocation and Dance), Violet Archer (Sonata No. 2), John Beckwith, Allan Gordon Bell, Richard Johnston, and Kelly-Marie Murphy.
Foreman began teaching at the University of Calgary in 1973, where he remained in 2006, and was assistant dean 1980-3 of its Faculty of Fine Arts. He is co-director of the Mountain View International Festival of Song and the Mountain View Connection series.
