Harrison-LeCaine Hall
Harrison-LeCaine Hall was built between 1972 and 1973, and is the home of the Queen's School of Music. The School of Music began as an experiment of Principal Fyfe's, when he invited musician Eduardo Petri to come to Queen's and set up a summer school for music. This "experiment" was funded by the generous benefaction of the Carnegie Corporation and, without that support, it is unlikely that the project would have been possible during those Depression years. In 1935 a part-time resident musician was hired, and by 1937 the new School of Music had a full credit course offered in the winter session.

Harrison-LeCaine Hall is named for Frank Harrison and Hugh LeCaine. The building contains classrooms, practice studios both traditional and computer-based, rehearsal halls, a lounge area, and staff offices. It used to house the music library, which was recently moved to Douglas Library and made part of the W. D. Jordan Special Collections and Music Library. The building was renovated extensively in the late 1990s, and is said to be designed so that it resembles a grand piano from the air. The funds for the construction of the building were a gift from the provincial government.


Frank Harrison
Frank Harrison was the first resident musician at Queen's University, although when he first took up the post in 1935, it was only part-time. Frank Harrison was a noted organist and had just been appointed as the organist for St George's Cathedral when he was invited to Queen's. Frank Harrison was at first the entire school of music, giving lectures, running a choir and an orchestra, and conducting concerts himself. Frank Harrison's course in the history and appreciation of music was the first music course to be given for full credit at Queen's.

Frank Harrison was born in Dublin, Ireland, and studied music at Trinity College at Dublin University, from which he earned his Doctorate of Music. After his ten year stay at Queen's, Frank Harrison's career continued to blossom. He established a Music Department at Washington University in St. Louis, and then lectured at Oxford University. From 1965 onwards, Frank Harrison became interested primarily in ethnomusicology after returning from a trip to southern Mexico with his wife. During the 1970's he was a Professor of Ethnomusicology at the University of Amsterdam.

Frank Harrison also wrote many publications, including one entitled Music in Medieval Britain. He received a great deal of international recognition for his work, and traveled the world doing field research. In addition to the building which is named in his honor, Frank Harrison received an honorary LL.D. from Queen's in 1974.


Hugh LeCaine (1914-1977)
Hugh LeCaine was raised in Port Arthur, Ontario, which is now known as Thunder Bay. Throughout his youth he studied the piano, and began experimenting with electronics and musical instruments at a young age. Hugh LeCaine attended Queen's and received his M.Sc. in 1939, after which he went on to work for the National Research Council in Ottawa, where he worked for the rest of his life. Initially, Hugh LeCaine's research at the NRC was in science exclusively, and he experimented with electronic music only at home in his spare time. Hugh LeCaine did extensive research on radar technology, and designed the first automatic pattern recorder. He also helped develop the forerunner of the Van de Graaff nuclear accelerator.

Hugh LeCaine invented the electronic Sackbut in 1945 - only one of the many new instruments he was to invent during the course of his work. In 1954 he was allowed to make his musical research a professional activity, and began working on electronic music at the NRC. His research is considered as one of the main influences in the development of the synthesizer. Hugh LeCaine taught at both the University of Toronto and McGill University, and was much in demand as a lecturer all over Canada. He also ventured into composing, and his best known work is called Dripsody.Hugh LeCaine was granted an honorary LL.D. by Queen's in 1974.