Shinn Conservatory of Music

Shinn Conservatory of Music

Shinn Conservatory of Music. Winnipeg school opened in 1922 by William H. (Henry) Shinn and closed in 1967 by his son B. (Bonar) Franklyn Shinn. The elder Shinn (b Ledbury, Herefordshire, England, 23 Nov 1873, d Winnipeg 29 Apr 1954) moved to Winnipeg in 1912 and taught privately until 1922. He opened a conservatory in the Alfred Building and moved in 1947 to the new building on Furby St which housed 14 studios and a 250-seat recital hall. Besides the Shinns, who taught piano, organ, voice, and theory, instructors included A.A. Zimmerman and Carl Horoschuk (violin), Albert Whiteman (voice), and James Thomson (winds). W.H. Shinn retired in 1951 and, on his death, was succeeded as president by his son. The younger Shinn (b Barry Dock, South Wales, 7 Jul 1911), who studied with his father and Herbert J. Sadler, and 1933-6 at the RAM, began teaching at the Shinn Conservatory in 1926. He also conducted 1936-9 the Winnipeg Metropolitan Choir and was organist-choirmaster 1939-67 in various United churches. His few compositions to 1950 are listed in the Catalogue of Canadian Composers. After 1967 B.F. Shinn, a highly skilled lens grinder, devoted himself to a career in astronomy. The conservatory building was taken over by George Kent.