Leila Fletcher (August 12, 1899 – April 9, 1988) was 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 ...

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 ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

publisher Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...

music editor A music sequencer (or audio sequencer or simply sequencer) is a device or application software that can record, edit, or play back music, by handling note and performance information in several forms, typically CV/Gate, MIDI, or Open Sound Cont ...

and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

Early years

She was born in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

. Her parents provided her piano lessons from a local teacher. After high school, Fletcher continued her music education at

Greenville College Greenville University is a private university in Greenville, Illinois. It is affiliated with the Free Methodist Church. Established as Greenville College in 1892, the institution was renamed Greenville University in 2017. History In 1855, Stephe ...

in Illinois, 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 (musician), Edward ...

, and 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 ...

, studying with Vigo Kihl, Sir

Ernest MacMillan Sir Ernest Alexander Campbell MacMillan, (August 18, 1893 – May 6, 1973) was a Canadian orchestral conductor, composer, organist, and Canada's only "Musical Knight". He is widely regarded as being Canada's pre-eminent musician, from the ...

and Dr.

Healey Willan James Healey Willan (12 October 1880 – 16 February 1968) was an Anglo-Canadian organist and composer. He composed more than 800 works including operas, symphonies, chamber music, a concerto, and pieces for band, orchestra, organ, and ...

. She remained for several years as a noted faculty member.

Early career

In the 1930s she was appointed music editor for Gordon V. Thompson music publishers in Toronto. She was also later on appointed Director of music at Lorne Park College.

Publishing and Composing

In 1949, Fletcher founded her own music publishing company called Montgomery Music based in

Rochester Rochester may refer to: Places Australia * Rochester, Victoria Canada * Rochester, Alberta United Kingdom *Rochester, Kent ** City of Rochester-upon-Medway (1982–1998), district council area ** History of Rochester, Kent ** HM Prison ...

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eventually moving it to Buffalo and finally to

Markham, Ontario Markham () is a city in the Regional Municipality of York, Ontario, Canada. It is approximately northeast of Downtown Toronto. In the 2021 Census, Markham had a population of 338,503, which ranked it the largest in York Region, fourth largest ...

where it currently exists as part of the Mayfair Montgomery Publishing house. She taught piano to young students in the Toronto public schools and to this day her piano methods books (The Leila Fletcher Piano Course) are a highly recommended resource for aspiring young piano students. In her lifetime, she published over 250 piano solos through her publishing house.

Personal life

Leila Fletcher never married. She was reputed to be difficult to get along with and very demanding in her professional as well as personal life. She also never lived in the United States, preferring to commute to her business in New York state from her home in Hamilton, Ontario.

External links

Mayfair's Music From CanadaThe Official Leila Fletcher Web site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Leila Canadian women pianists Musicians from Hamilton, Ontario 1899 births 1988 deaths The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni 20th-century Canadian composers 20th-century Canadian pianists Women classical pianists 20th-century women composers 20th-century Canadian women musicians Canadian women composers 20th-century women pianists