Violet Archer

Training under Paul Hindemith and Béla Bartók is recorded. The recorded working language is English. Subjects and genres recorded for the work are classical music. Employment is recorded with University of Alberta, University of Oklahoma and University of North Texas College of Music. Distinctions recorded are Member of the Order of Canada.

• Name — Violet Archer • Born — 24 April 1913 • Birthplace — Montreal, Quebec, Canada • Died — 21 February 2000 • Place of death — Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • Education — * McGill University, B.Mus., 1936 • Yale University, M.Mus., 1949 • Occupation — Composer, teacher, pianist, organist, percussionist • Awards — Order of Canada, 1983

• Illustration — Violet Archer on graduation day, Yale University. Born Violetta Balestreri in Montreal (the family changed its name to Archer in 1940), Archer earned a Licentiate in music from McGill University in 1934, and a Bachelor of Music from McGill in 1936; she studied composition with Claude Champagne and Douglas Clarke. Archer travelled to New York in the summer of 1942 to study composition, including Hungarian folk music and variation technique, with Béla Bartók. She taught at the McGill Conservatory from 1944-47. Later in the 1940s she studied with Paul Hindemith at Yale, where she earned a B.Mus. (1948) and an M.Mus. (1949). From 1950-53, Archer was composer-in-residence at the University of North Texas. From 1953-61, she taught at the University of Oklahoma. Returning to Canada in 1961 as a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, she set her studies aside when, in 1962, she joined the Faculty of Music at the University of Alberta, where she taught until her retirement in 1978; during this time she was chair of the theory and composition department. Her notable students included Larry Austin, Jan Randall, Allan Gilliland, and Allan Gordon Bell.

Archer built a career as a musician and composer in addition to teaching. She played percussion in the Montreal Women's Symphony Orchestra from 1940-47 during the era when women had no access to positions in major professional orchestras. In addition to percussion, Archer played clarinet and strings, and worked in Montreal as an accompanist and organist. As a composer, Archer's prolific oeuvre of more than 330 compositions included traditional and more contemporary works for instrument and voice. Her wide-ranging work includes the 1973 comic opera, Sganarelle, the film score for the 1976 documentary, Someone Cares, and experiments with electronic music. Her music includes some 90 compositions for students, written to acquaint performers and audiences with modern concepts of harmony, melody, and rhythm.

• "À la claire fontaine" (SA and piano) – Berandol Music