Celia Bizony

Bizony, Celia

Celia Bizony. Musicologist, soprano, b Berlin of Hungarian parents in 1904, naturalized British, d London 12 Mar 1950. A specialist in early music, particularly the medieval repertoire, she studied at Columbia U in 1948 prior to settling in Montreal in 1949. She taught music history 1949-54 at McGill University and also 1949-50 directed the Schola cantorum there. She commuted to Kingston 1950-4 to teach at Queen's University. In Montreal she founded, and directed 1951-5, Musica Antica e Nuova, a society similar to one with the same name that she had co-founded and co-directed 1942-8 with Boris Ord at Cambridge U, England. She also taught voice at Mount Allison University before returning to England in 1955. She then began teaching at the GSM and was a lecturer until 1970 at Morley College. She also taught 1967-9 at the University of London. Her Canadian pupils included the bass-baritone James Bechtel. She is considered to have been the initiator of authentic early music performances in Montreal.