Marshall Sumner

Sumner, Marshall

Marshall Sumner. Pianist, teacher, b Melbourne 22 Sep 1907, naturalized Canadian 1956; B MUS (Chicago Musical College) 1933. He studied 1923-7 at the University of Melbourne and 1927-33 with Percy Grainger, Rudolph Ganz, and Alexander Raab at the Chicago Musical College. Following his debut in 1933 with the Los Angeles Philharmonic playing Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto, he performed with the Minneapolis SO and the Chicago SO and toured Australia with visiting artists for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. In 1950 he moved to Vancouver, where he taught piano 1959-72 at the University of British Columbia (Lyn Vernon and Andrea Kalanj were among his pupils) and performed frequently over CBC radio, as recitalist and as soloist with the CBC Vancouver Chamber Orchestra. During his term 1964-6 as president of the Philharmonic Music Club of Vancouver he commissioned works from Jean Coulthard, Elliot Weisgarber, and others. After retirement he remained active for several years as an adjudicator and teacher.