Gladys Willan | The Canadian Encyclopedia

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Gladys Willan

Gladys (Ellen) Willan (b Hall). Teacher, pianist, b London, England 19 Mar 1883, d Toronto 8 Dec 1964; LRAM 1902. At the Royal Academy of Music she studied piano with Francesco Berger and Tobias Matthay and voice with Walter Mackway.

Willan, Gladys

Gladys (Ellen) Willan (b Hall). Teacher, pianist, b London, England 19 Mar 1883, d Toronto 8 Dec 1964; LRAM 1902. At the Royal Academy of Music she studied piano with Francesco Berger and Tobias Matthay and voice with Walter Mackway. She married Healey Willan in 1905 and, following his move to Canada, joined him in Toronto in 1914. There she coached singers, taught piano privately, and was co-author with Olive Brush of Let's Play and Sing around the Clock (Harris 1929) and author of A Manual of Ear-Training and Sight-Singing (Harris 1939, 1971). She was music director for Dora Mavor Moore's Shakespeare productions in Toronto high schools. Mavor Moore was one of her pupils.