Biography

I was born in Montreal and went to school there, at Marianapolis College and McGill, before finishing degrees at Boston University and Yale. I worked as a bass trombonist in New York City when there were still places you just didn’t go, then in Toronto and on tour with the Great Lakes Brass. I began working for the CBC on my 30th birthday, a very long time ago, and at the time of writing I still am. I have since written three books, been a Resident Artist with Soulpepper Theatre, delivered storytelling workshops at various University music programs and at the Banff Centre, been named an honourary Doctor of Letters by Thompson Rivers University, hosted countless concerts across the country and written a series of cabaret storytelling shows we call Chamber Musicals, including From Weimar to Vaudeville, The Missing Pages, A Poe Cabaret, Being Lost and the latest: JS Bach’s Long Walk in the Snow.

I live in Toronto with my beloved, the harpist Lori Gemmell, our son, and a very enthusiastic dog.