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'''Charles Frederick Thiele''' (1884 - February 3, 1954) was an American-Canadian bandmaster, musician and industrialist. The inventor of the collapsible music stand, he founded the first company to manufacture music stands in Canada. |
'''Charles Frederick Thiele''' (1884 - February 3, 1954) was an American-Canadian bandmaster, musician and industrialist. The inventor of the collapsible music stand, he founded Waterloo Metal Stampings, the first company to manufacture music stands in Canada. Thiele also established the [[Waterloo Music Company]], which produced sheet music used by bands across Canada. Actively involved in the local and national music community, Thiele was a founding member of the Ontario Amateur Bands Association and the Canadian Band Association, and was the driving force behind the nationally recognized Waterloo Music Festival. |
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Revision as of 17:19, 9 January 2017
Charles Frederick Thiele (1884 - February 3, 1954) was an American-Canadian bandmaster, musician and industrialist. The inventor of the collapsible music stand, he founded Waterloo Metal Stampings, the first company to manufacture music stands in Canada. Thiele also established the Waterloo Music Company, which produced sheet music used by bands across Canada. Actively involved in the local and national music community, Thiele was a founding member of the Ontario Amateur Bands Association and the Canadian Band Association, and was the driving force behind the nationally recognized Waterloo Music Festival.
Biography
Thiele was born in New York in 1884.[1] Thiele moved to Waterloo, Ontario in 1919 to work as Director of the Waterloo Musical Society Band.[1] He moved to the region in response to anti-German sentiment in the United States following World War I.[2] A solo cornetist, Thiele performed with and directed several bands prior to moving to Waterloo including the Thiele Concert Party, which featured his wife, Louise, who also played the cornet and their daughter Carolyn, a saxophonist.[1]
Life in Waterloo
Thiele founded two companies in the Region of Waterloo - Waterloo Metal Stampings and Waterloo Music Company. Waterloo Metal Stampings began after Thiele took over a section of an industrial plant in Waterloo.[3] The building, located at 63 William St., had previously housed the Superior Box Co. Ltd.[4] The company produced a variety of music-based items including music stands, drums and cymbals, eventually introducing the production of office furniture.[5] When it was founded in 1922 Waterloo Music Company sold and produced for pianists working in silent film houses, later selling sheet music used by bands across the country.[2] Thiele started the business in his home, relocating to a second-floor office on King Street after outgrowing the space.[3] The Company went on to sell and repair musical instruments, as well as offer music lessons and educational resources. The Waterloo Music Company operated at Regina and Erb in Waterloo, relocating to the Tannery building at Joseph and Victoria streets in Kitchener, Ontario in 2011. The business was purchased by St. John's Music in 2004, who dropped the original name after the moving the business to Kitchener. The location closed after 92 years in operation in 2014.[2]
In 1924 Thiele founded the Ontario Bandsmen's Association, today the Ontario Amateur Bands Association, which oversaw band competitions at the Canadian National Exhibition.[3] He served as president until 1948. Thiele was also a founding member of the Canadian Band Association, established in 1931, serving as president from 1934 to 1935.[1]
Thiele started the Waterloo Music Festival in 1932. The first event featured fifteen bands and 80 solo performers making it, at the time, the largest music festival in the country.[5] By 1953 the festival featured 60 bands and attracted more than 1,000 solo entries.[3]
In 1946 Thiele founded the Waterloo Music Camp for Boys, known as Bandberg, in nearby Bamberg, Ontario. He dedicated the camp to the memory of Canadian bandsmen who had fought and lost their lives in World War II.[3][1]
Death
Thiele died on February 3, 1954 at the Kitchener-Waterloo Hospital after being sick for most of the previous year.[3] After his death, Thiele's personal library of band music was left to the Waterloo Musical Society.[5]
Waterloo Metal Stampings continued to operate after Thiele's death eventually relocating to Manitou Drive in Kitchener, Ontario, where it is goes by the name Waterloo Furniture Components.[4]
Publications
The Pocket Dictionary of Musical Terms ; Also the Rudiments of Music. Waterloo, ON: Waterloo Music Company. 1950.
References
- ^ a b c d e Moogk, Edward B. "Charles Thiele". Historica Canada. The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ a b c Thompson, Catharine (30 April 2014). "A piece of local music history to shut down after almost a century in business". The Record. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f "C.F. Thiele, 70, Waterloo's Noted Bandsman, Dies". Kitchener-Waterloo Record. February 3, 1954. p. 3.
{{cite news}}:|format=requires|url=(help) - ^ a b Fear, J. (21 December 2012). "Flash from the Past: Superior Box was on William Street in Waterloo". The Record. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
- ^ a b c "Waterloo Region Museum \ Inductees - S to V". www.waterlooregionmuseum.com. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
External links
"Search results for photos of Charles Frederick Thiele". images.ourontario.ca. Waterloo Public Library. Retrieved 9 January 2017.