Gordon Foote is currently Associate Dean, Performance & Public Events and professor at the University of Toronto. As part of the Jazz Studies Program, he directs the University of Toronto Jazz Orchestra (UTJO). The UTJO recently returned from the CMEA in Winnipeg, where they performed and assisted in presenting workshops. In 2013 they released a CD entitled Reflections, featuring U of T faculty member Mike Murley on tenor saxophone. All of the music on the disc was written by Mike Murley.
Previous to that, Gordon spent 26 years as a Professor in the Jazz Studies Program at the Schulich School of Music of McGill University, in Montreal, Quebec. He served as Dean (interim), Associate Dean (Academic and Student Affairs), Chair of the Department of Performance, Director of Graduate Studies and Chair of the Jazz Area, as well as six years at St. FX University in Nova Scotia. Gordon is one of the pioneers of jazz education in Canada, being instrumental in the development and implementation of the first undergraduate and graduate university jazz studies programs in the country.
Professor Foote was the coordinator of the McGill Jazz Orchestras, and directed McGill Jazz Orchestra I. Under his direction the ensemble performed throughout the United States and Canada, France, Switzerland, England, Ireland and Mexico. The ensemble released nine CDs and was recognized internationally as one of the finest university jazz ensembles anywhere.
As a saxophonist and clinician for Conn-Selmer, Gordon has performed in Canada, Europe and the United States. Gordon has served as the Quebec representative to the IAJE, the Director of Education for IAJE Canada and as President of Jazz Canada. His studies at the University of Minnesota and the University of North Texas combined with 40 years of performing and teaching experience leave him as probably the most requested adjudicator, conductor, clinician and jazz educator/performer in Canada.