A native of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, Donald Coakley received his undergraduate degree from the Crane School of Music, at the State University of New York. He received an Ed.M from Temple University, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Coakley also earned a Master of Music degree from the Philadelphia Conservatory of Music, where he studied theory and composition with Vincent Persichetti, and trombone with Henry Charles Smith, principal trombone of the Philadelphia orchestra. He taught at Cardinal Dougherty High School, in Philadelphia, and at Temple University. He was, for many years, Co-ordinator of Instrumental Music for the Scarborough Board of Education, in Metro-Toronto. For six years, after leaving the Scarborough Board of Education, Coakley taught at York University, in Toronto.
In 1977, Coakley received the Distinguished Service to Public Education Award from the The State University of New York. In 1991, he was one of four winners of the Third Biennial Choral Search, sponsored by Melodious Accord in New York City. In 1995, Coakley received the Anson Taylor Award for his outstanding contribution to public education in Scarborough. Coakley is a member of the Canadian League of Composers, and an Associate Composer at the Canadian Music Center
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