Alice Marian Robertson Wilson (August 20, 1926 – April 8, 2013) was an American cellist, linguist and teacher most notable role as music editor of the eight-volume '' Coptic Encyclopedia''. She was a daughter of

Leroy Robertson Leroy Robertson (December 21, 1896 – July 25, 1971) was an American composer and music educator. Robertson was born in Fountain Green, Utah. One of his earliest instructors was Anthony C. Lund. He graduated from the New England Conservato ...

and has written scholarly analyses of his works.

Life and musical career

Robertson was born in

Morgan, Utah Morgan is a city in the U.S. state of Utah and the county seat of Morgan County. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield metropolitan area. It is named after Jedediah Morgan Grant, a leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who ser ...

, and initially studied piano. At age ten, when her younger sister was born, her father bought a half-size cello that was allegedly for the newborn Karen but her father urged her to play it until her sister became big enough. She joined the

Utah Symphony Orchestra The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving c ...

in 1947. In 1950 she went to study in France on a Fulbright scholarship; that year her father wrote a cello composition for her to play. Marian Robertson married W. Keith Wilson, a retired Utah probation officer, in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

in 1979. Their marriage was later solemnized in the Salt Lake Temple. He died in 1994. Wilson held two Ph.D.s, one in French and music and the other in Arabic. At least one of these Ph.D.s was from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

. Over a 21-year period she taught a wide variety of courses including French, Greek, Italian, German, Music theory and cello at various times at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU, sometimes referred to colloquially as The Y) is a private research university in Provo, Utah. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day ...

, the University of Utah and

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public land-grant research university in Logan, Utah. It is accredited by the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. With nearly 20,000 students living on or near campus, USU is Utah's ...

. Besides being the music editor for the Coptic Encyclopedia, Wilson also created a guide to the Library of Congress's collection of Coptic music. Since 1971, she has been closely connected with the work of the Leroy Robertson foundation which awards scholarships to young composers to aid them in furthering their education. Wilson wrote a biography of her father entitled ''Leroy Robertson: Music Giant From the Rockies''. It received the

Association for Mormon Letters The Association for Mormon Letters (AML) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 to "foster scholarly and creative work in Mormon letters and to promote fellowship among scholars and writers of Mormon literature." Other stated purposes have inc ...

award for Best biography in 1997. Wilson died on Monday, April 8, 2013 in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

References

Additional sources

* *
Neal A. Maxwell institute listing

Marian Robertson Wilson papers listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Marian Robertson 1926 births 2013 deaths People from Morgan, Utah American cellists American Latter Day Saints Linguists from the United States Women linguists American musicologists American women musicologists Brigham Young University faculty Coptologists University of Utah alumni University of Utah faculty Utah State University faculty Women cellists Fulbright alumni