ARTISTS


COLIN FOX
NARRATOR

GALLERY | BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | AVAILABLE PERFORMANCES


GALLERY



Photography   V. Tony Hauser, Toronto (B&W); AKAM Studios (Outdoors)

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BIOGRAPHY

A multi-talented artist, Colin Fox has an impressive list of stage, film, television, and musical narrations to his credit. A veteran of television and film work, he has appeared in movies alongside Hollywood stars such as Sylvester Stallone, Claire Bloom and Chris O'Donnell. As a television actor, Colin has excelled in performing in several long running, critically acclaimed shows, including: PSI Factor: Chronicles of the Paranormal, A & E's Nero Wolfe, Wonderfalls, Law and Order, The Equalizer, Relic Hunter and Street Legal. Colin's love of the stage has led him to perform at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre, Stratford Festival, Shaw Festival and on Broadway. His many stage performances also include a one man show about the iconic director Tyrone Guthrie which later aired on CBC. A rich and recognisable voice, Colin has narrated a number of documentaries for the discovery Channel and for National Geographic in the US. In addition, he has completed several audio book recordings including Atomic Betty which received a Gemini Award and Tchaikovsky in America which received a JUNO Award.

Colin’s foray into musical narrations came early and with much prestige. He first appeared on the concert stage in 1974, in the title role of Lelio by Berlioz with the Boston Symphony and Toronto Symphony Orchestras conducted by Seiji Ozawa. That same year, he narrated Honniger's King David with the Toronto Symphony and the Mendelssohn Choir. Since then, Colin's collaborations have ranged from large ensembles to soloists with such names as the Hannaford Street Silver Band, guitarist Simon Wynberg, pianist Leslie Kinton, pianist Anton Kuerti, Gryphon Trio and the Elora Festival Singers, performing such works including Stravinsky's Histoire du Soldat and Saint-Saens's Carnival of the Animals to name a few. Other collaborations have including writing a narrative introduction to Messian's Quartet for the End of Time and performing a dramatic reading of the poem Transfigured Night to compliment music by Schoenberg which is based on the literary work.

Colin has appeared at prestigious music festivals including the Ottawa Chamber Festival, Huntsville Festival of the Performing Arts, Festival of the Sound, Elora Festival, Grand River Baroque Festival and the Toronto Summer Music Festival. Highlights of this past season include the premiere of composer Raymond Luedeke’s Butterflies Trouble with his Voice of Fire Pocket Opera Ensemble and a collaboration with renowned pianist Anton Kuerti for a performance of Strauss’ Enoch Arden. Other collaborations include the development of a new work, also by Raymond Luedeke, titled The Art of Love- Into the Labyrinth for two pianos, actor, and computer generated visuals. Colin has also recently performed throughout Ontario with guitarist Simon Wynberg, in a production of Tedesco’s Platero y Yo written for one guitar and actor.

In the 2009.10 season, Colin Fox embarked on a new production titled The Schumann Letters with pianist Michael Kim and soprano Susan Gilmour Bailey. As the author of the script and narrator for this music-as-theatre show, Colin has seen more than forty performances across the country. Intertwined with Schumann’s piano and vocal repertoire, the story is a celebration of the composer’s life, love and music. This season, Colin will tour with The Schumann Letters throughout the Atlantic Provinces and Ontario.

(as of September 2011)

REVIEWS

“The program was narrated by Colin Fox whose resonant voice and 40 years of experience gained on TV, Radio, in films and on Broadway added lustre to a shining afternoon of inspired performing by all concerned.” (Musick of Shakespeare – Concert Review)

-FRIENDLY NOTES, F.O.G.S. NEWSLETTER

“...the effect was magical. Fox convincingly unveiled the venomous story, detailing the progressive events and his smouldering disgust…the proposed narrative overlaying the musical meaning was impossible to resist…The genius of this presentation was how it transformed the listener.”

- GUELPH MERCURY

AVAILABLE PERFORMANCES

The Schumann Letters
Text by Colin Fox
Music by Robert Schumann

German composer Robert Schumann fell in love with a young virtuoso pianist Clara Wieck. Despite adamant opposition from her father throughout their courtship, the couple sought legal consent and were wed in 1840. During this time, thousands of letters were written between them which provide the inspiration for this music-as-theatre performance.


Platero y Yo
with guitarist Simon Wynberg
Text by Juan Ramon Jimenez
Music by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco

This outstanding pair of artists presents the beautifully moving story of a young writer and his donkey journeying in Spain, as told in the poems of Nobel prizewinner Juan Ramon Jiménez.


Enoch Arden
with pianist Leslie Kinton Text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Music by Richard Strauss

The story of a fishermen, turned merchant sailor, Enoch Arden sets out on a voyage in order to better provide for his family. Upon his return, neither villagers nor family recall who he is. This tragic, yet powerful story is set to piano music by Richard Strauss.


Theatre workshops available