Clifford Ford

Clifford Robert Ford (born 30 May 1947) is a Canadian composer, editor, music educator, and writer. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he is a founding member of ARRAYMUSIC and a former member of the music faculties of McMaster University (1974–1976) and Dalhousie University (1976–1980). In 1981 he co-founded the Canadian Musical Heritage Society for which he is executive secretary and technical editor. As a writer he has contributed articles to numerous music publications, including several entries in The Canadian Encyclopedia. Since 1989 he has worked as a consultant on electronic publishing.

Born in Toronto, Ford studied piano, organ, and voice privately in his native city with Eric Lewis from 1957–1962. In 1960 he entered The Royal Conservatory of Music where he studied music theory and music composition with John Beckwith through 1964. He later pursued further studies with Beckwith and John Weinzweig at the University of Toronto where he earned a Bachelor of Music in 1970. That same year he won the Composers, Authors and Publishers Association of Canada's Ernest MacMillan Award which provided him with funds to pursue studies with István Anhalt at McGill University in 1970–1971. He later returned to that school for graduate studies in composition, earning a Master of Music in 1981. He also spent a year studying at the Institute for Sonology at Utrecht University with Gottfried Michael Koenig in 1973.