Brian Jackson (conductor)

Brian Jackson (born 26 December 1943) is a British-Canadian conductor, organist and pianist. He became a naturalized Canadian citizen in 1974. Until 2012 he was Principal Pops Conductor of the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony, Orchestra London, and the Victoria Symphony. Early life and education Anthony Brian Jackson was born in Penzance, Cornwall, England. He began performing as a concert pianist at age 6 and as an organist at the age of 12. He attended Clifton College in Bristol, and also started conducting choirs and orchestras as a teenager. He also served as the organist-choirmaster at St John’s Anglican Church in Peterborough, Ontario from 1968 to 1971 and taught on the music faculty at Trent University. He studied conduction from 1971 to 1973 with Karel Ančerl and Victor Feldbrill in Toronto, Richard Lert in Los Angeles, and Hans Swarowsky in Vienna. He was awarded the Heinz Unger Award in 1972. In 1974, he received a grant from the Canada Council, which allowed him to study conducting further in Detmold, West Germany. From 1973 to 1974 and 1976 to 1977, Jackson served as director of music at the Erskine and American Church in Montreal. He also taught during that time at Concordi