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LEGACY IN ACTION
30
Local Flautist’s
Harlan Green, bearer of joy to
the Edmonton music community
in life and death
BY Theodora MacLeod
John Mahon still remembers the
first time he met Harlan Green in the
mid 1970s. “You’d notice his eyes right
away,” Mahon says. “They twinkled.”
Green, former principal flautist for
the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra
passed away in 2008, but, 15 years
later, the legacy of his warmth, humour
and kindness lives on with as much
laudability as his musicianship. “He used
to kind of lean towards you when you
were talking to him, like he was really
interested in what you were saying. He
didn’t interrupt you,” Mahon recalls.
“Harlan was good, but he was always
a nice guy. He was unpretentious…
musicians can sometimes be egotistical,
but Harlan was never that way.”
Raised in Dewberry — 200
kilometres east of Edmonton — Green
was known as a man of integrity. A
wildly talented flautist and a competent
farmer, he split his time between the
stage and his family farm. It was there
that Harlan was first introduced to
music, taught by his sister, Muriel.
Green studied under many great
masters, including Julius Baker
(New York Philharmonic Orchestra), and
Geoffrey Gilbert (London Philharmonic
Orchestra). In 1945, at just 15 years old,
Green joined what would eventually
become known as the Edmonton
Symphony Orchestra (ESO). His career
with the ESO spanned 40 years, for most
of which he sported a signature beard that
fellow Symphony member George Andrix
says was not something commonly seen
on classical musicians at the time, and
wasn’t always appreciated by conductors.
According to Mahon, when conductor
Pierre Hétu joined the ESO as the artistic
director in the mid 1970s, Green was
forced to audition for his position —
something he did successfully— though
whether that was in response to the
unconventional beard can only be
speculated upon.
Throughout his career, Green played
in a number of ensembles outside
the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra,
including the Harlan Green Players — a
wind quartet — the Trocadero Orchestra
— playing big band saxophone — and The
Plumbers Union, an eclectic recorder
ensemble for which Andrix
composed. The recorder ensemble
got its name because, according to
Harlan, they were playing pipes, just
like plumbers.
This lighthearted and punny
humour embodies the man Harlan
Green was and is also reflected in
the title of his solo album, In His
Field, a nod to Harlan’s roles as a
farmer and a musician, where he
was out standing and outstanding,
respectively. The album was released
in 1998 and produced by John
Mahon, and features Janet Scott Hoyt
accompanying on a piano formerly
owned by Glenn Gould.
“He was thinking of the audience.
He’s a good player, he could have
picked really impressive, hard pieces
to listen to… every piece he picked he
wanted to connect with the audience,”
says Mahon.
Harlan’s widow, Mara, arranged
an endowment fund with Edmonton
Community Foundation (ECF)
to help support the education of
Edmonton’s future generations of
musicians. With an emphasis on
eclectic styles and enhancing music
culture, the grant aims to reflect the
whimsy and joy of a man who was
beloved by so many. At the request
of Mara, the fund has remained
anonymous, however, it was her
wish that upon her death, the fund
be publicly renamed to recognize
Harlan Green. As we mourn the
death of Mara Green, ECF is proud
to announce the Harlan Green
Endowment Fund.
Legacy lives on
Images Supplied