RIP DENNIS FARNON (1923-2019)

Dennis Farnon (born August 13, 1923, Toronto, Ontario, Canada) was a Canadian composer, arranger and conductor. Brother of Brian Farnon and Robert Farnon. Died May 21, 2019 at the age of 95, in Aalst, Buren, The Netherlands. Born John Denis Farnon to Robert and Elsie Farnon (née Menzies). He grew up in a musical family, and learned to play the trumpet at age 12. Through his older brother Robert, he enlisted into the Canadian Army Band, also travelling to Europe to entertain the Allied troops during the last years of the war. In his mid-20’s, he moved to Chicago where he played in jazz clubs and pursued studies in conducting, arranging, and orchestration, strongly influenced by the works of Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Béla Bartók and Sergey Prokofiev. As with his brothers Brian and Robert, Dennis Farnon specialised in light music and orchestral arrangements of well-known standards, sometimes writing under the pseudonyms of Paul Gerard and John Dennis. WIKIPEDIA   |   AVAILABLE RECORDINGS