Frances Elaine Keillor C.M. (born 2 September 1939) is a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

musicologist and

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. She has been a professor of music at

Carleton University Carleton University is an English-language public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1942 as Carleton College, the institution originally operated as a private, non-denominational evening college to serve returning World ...

since 1977, specializing in the music of Canadian composers and the music of North American

indigenous groups Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

Early life and education

Elaine Keillor was born in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

in 1939. Her first piano teacher was her mother, Lenore Stevens Keillor, although Keillor has said of her mother, "She said that she could not actually recall teaching me to play the piano as I would just go to the instrument and play what she had been teaching the last student." Elaine also took lessons with

Reginald Bedford Reginald Bedford (December 13, 1909, London, Ontario — December 9, 1985, Hamilton, Ontario) was a Canadian pianist and music educator who was part of a well known piano duo with Evelyn Eby from 1938 through 1979. He and Eby married in 1948. The ...

, and later with Claudio Arrau and

Harold Craxton Thomas Harold Hunt Craxton (30 April 188530 March 1971) was an English pianist, teacher and composer. Born in London, and growing up in Devizes, Craxton began studying piano with Tobias Matthay and Cuthbert Whitemore in 1907, and made a name for ...

. She progressed rapidly and at age 10 she earned an ARCT certificate from

The Royal Conservatory of Music The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher as The Toronto Con ...

. At the time, she was the youngest person to receive an ARCT, and her record stood for six decades. Keillor played in recitals, and as soloist with several orchestras in Canada and the United States. She completed her secondary school education through

homeschooling Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an onlin ...

, then moved to Europe for further study and performing, including a 1962 performance in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. While still in her teens, she returned to Canada, and in 1959 embarked on a performing tour of 23 Canadian communities. A chronic hand injury that began around this time curtailed her performing schedule. Keillor then began studies at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

. She earned a B.A. in 1970, an M.A. in musicology the following year, and a Ph.D. in 1976, the first woman to receive a doctorate in musicology from the university.

Career

Following teaching engagements at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

(1975–76) and

Queen's University Queen's or Queens University may refer to: *Queen's University at Kingston, Ontario, Canada *Queen's University Belfast, Northern Ireland, UK **Queen's University of Belfast (UK Parliament constituency) (1918–1950) **Queen's University of Belfast ...

(1976-77), Keillor joined

in 1977 as the university's first woman professor of music. At Carleton, she has taught courses on the Baroque and Classical periods, Canadian music, ethnomusicology, keyboard performance and keyboard literature. With particular responsibility for Canadian music, she helped launch the university's first courses on Canadian Aboriginal music. In 2005, Carleton named her a Distinguished Research Professor Emerita. As a performer, Keillor has paid particular attention to work of Canadian composers and women composers. She premiered works by

Alexina Louie Alexina Diane Louie, (born July 30, 1949) is a Canadian composer of contemporary art music. She has composed for various instrumental and vocal combinations in a variety of genres. She has fulfilled a number of commissions, and her works, whic ...

, John Weinzweig and many others. She has made a number of recordings for Carleton University's record label, Carleton Sound, and

Naxos Records Naxos comprises numerous companies, divisions, imprints, and labels specializing in classical music but also audiobooks and other genres. The premier label is Naxos Records which focuses on classical music. Naxos Musical Group encompasses about 1 ...

. As a musicologist, Keillor has published extensively, with particular attention to Canadian and First Nations music history. She helped found the Canadian Musical Heritage Society with

Helmut Kallmann Helmut Max Kallmann (7 August 1922 – 12 February 2012) was a Canadian musicologist, music educator, librarian, and scholar of Canadian music history. He was a librarian at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, head of the music division at ...

Clifford Ford Clifford Robert Ford (born 30 May 1947) is a Canadian composer, Carl Morey. Music in Canada: A Research and Information Guide'. Routledge; 26 November 2013. . p. 30. editor, music educator, and author. An associate of the Canadian Music Centre, he ...

and others, serving as its vice-chair from 1989 to 2000, and chair beginning in 2000. She has contributed extensively to the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada, part of "The Canadian Encyclopedia", as well as ''

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'', the '' Garland Encyclopedia of World Music'', and the ''Continuum Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World''. She was a principal author of the ''Encyclopedia of Native American Music of North America'', released in 2013. In 2016, Keillor was appointed a member of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

, "For her contributions as a musicologist and historian of Canada’s musical heritage."

Books

* * * With

Timothy Archambault Timothy Archambault (also known as Tim Archambault; born Willimantic, Connecticut, United States, February 9, 1971) is a Native American flutist, architect, and composer. Background Archambault is a member of the Kichesipirini Algonquin First N ...

and John Medicine Horse Kelly, * As editor: ''Piano music I'' (1983), ''Piano music II'' (1986), ''Music for orchestra I'' (1994), ''Music for orchestra III'' (1995). Ottawa: Canadian Musical Heritage Society.

Selected discography

*''Piano Music by Torontonians 1834–1984'', 1984. *''By a Canadian Lady: Piano Music 1841–1997'', Carleton Sound, 2000. *''Canadians at the Keyboard'', Carleton Sound, 2000. *''Romance: Early Canadian Chamber Music'', Carleton Sound, 2002 *''Sounds Of North: Two Centuries Of Canadian Piano'', Gala Records, 2012 *''When Music Sounds: Canadian Cello Music – Coulthard, Weinzweig, Guerrero, Archer.'' (With Joan Harrison, cello.) Naxos Records, 2014. *''Poetic Sketches.'' Centrediscs, 2015. *''Narratives on Life: Music for Cello and Piano – Srul Irving Glick, Steven Gellman, Hélène Riese Liebmann, Maurice Gardner.'' (With Joan Harrison, cello.) Marquis Classics, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Keillor, Elaine 1939 births Living people Members of the Order of Canada Canadian musicologists Women musicologists Canadian music historians Canadian classical pianists Canadian women pianists Musicians from London, Ontario University of Toronto alumni Carleton University faculty 21st-century classical pianists Canadian women historians Women classical pianists 21st-century women pianists