Born in Toronto on March 28, 1906, Murray Adaskin began his violin training at the age of ten. Additional training was received in New York and Paris including periods of composition study with John Weinzweig, Charles Jones and Darius Milhaud. A violinist with Toronto Symphony for ten years, Adaskin also served as director of music for the CPR hotels. As Head of the Music Department at the University of Saskatchewan from 1952 until 1966, and then Composer-In-Residence from 1966 until 1973, Murray, along with his first wife soprano Frances James Adaskin, initiated and supported much of the rich musical life which remains as a cultural focus in Saskatoon today. Among his many honours were Saskatoon's citizen of the year for 1970, a 1980 appointment to the Order of Canada and a D.Mus from the University of Saskatchewan in 1984. Murray Adaskin retired to Victoria in 1973. He was later married to Dorothea Larken (Adaskin). He composed his final work in 2000 and died in 2002 at the age of 96.