Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

Faculty/School

Faculty of Arts

First Advisor

Not Applicable

Advisor Role

Not Applicable

Abstract

This thesis is a study of C.F. Thiele and his remarkable career as a musician, a Director of the famous Waterloo band, organizer of the equally famous Waterloo Band Festival, an entertainer and showman of international repute, and a businessman who founded the Waterloo Music Company. Founder and first president of the Ontario Amateur Bands Association, and co-founder of the Canadian Bandmasters’ Association, C.F. Thiele, or “Professor” Thiele as he was affectionately called, introduced the Ontario “Band Tax Law” in 1937 which enabled many of the smaller Ontario town bands to survive when funds were often unobtainable during and after the great Depression. Through the use of newspaper, magazine and oral evidence, this study examines the role of C.F. Thiele in the development of band music in Canada and his unselfish devotion to the betterment and recognition of Canadian band musicians—even to the extent of funding band music clinics and building and operating the “Bandberg” camp for promising boy musicians. By examining Thiele’s struggle for the betterment of Canadian band musicians, a clearer understanding of the difficulties experienced by impoverished musical associations and their bands during this period of Canadian history, can be appreciated.

Convocation Year

1986

Convocation Season

Fall

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