James Paton Clarke



JAMES PATON CLARKE (1807 or 1808-1877) came to Canada from Scotland in 1835 and held positions as organist and choir conductor in Hamilton and Toronto. In 1846 he was the first person to be awarded a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Toronto. He wrote and published numerous songs, choral works and piano pieces and edited several collections of church music. With John McCaul, he helped found and conduct the Toronto Philharmonic Society, programming some of the first performances of Beethoven and Mozart symphonies in Toronto.