Healey Willan

Trained as an organist in London, Willan immigrated to Toronto in 1913 to head the theory department at the Toronto Conservatory of Music. In 1921, he became organist and choirmaster at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene, transforming it into an international pilgrimage site for sacred choral polyphony.

Willan composed monumental organ works like Introduction, Passacaglia and Fugue (1916), symphonies, and the Canadian opera Deirdre (1946). In 1953, he was the only composer outside the United Kingdom invited to compose an anthem ('O Lord Our Governor') for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in Westminster Abbey.