Sheila Henig (February 19, 1934 – May 15, 1979) was a Canadian pianist and soprano. She performed as a soloist with the Halifax,

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

and

CBC Symphony Orchestra The CBC Symphony Orchestra (french: Orchestre symphonique de la SRC; CBCSO/OSSRC) was a radio orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation during the 1950s and 1960s. History The CBCSO was f ...

s as well as the

Houston Symphony Orchestra The Houston Symphony is an American orchestra based in Houston, Texas. The orchestra is resident at the Jesse H. Jones Hall for the Performing Arts. History The first concert of what was to become the Houston Symphony took place on June 21, 1 ...

. Henig toured Canada as well as some European nations. She also appeared in concerts broadcast on radio and television by the CBC and was a panelist on the

CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...

program ''Music and Opinion'' in 1973. A posthumous biography on Henig authored by her father and the freelance writer Madeline Thompson was published in 1982.

Biography

On February 19, 1934, Henig was born in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

. She was the daughter of Harry Henig and his wife. Henig was able to sing and dance by the age of two, performing in English and doing aerobics, tap dance and toe dance at a high level. In April 1938, she ventured to Los Angeles for an extended visit so she could audition. There, Eddie Cantor recommended Henig not be pushed but be allowed to develop further before making public presentations. She took on his advice and attended dancing and vocal lessons and made occasional appearances in Winnipeg. By the age of 11, Henig had decided she wanted to become either a grand opera singer or a pianist. She won the Rose Bowl at Toronto's

Kiwanis Music Festival The Kiwanis Music Festival movement consists of regional music competitions. These festivals are named after the Kiwanis Kiwanis International ( ) is an international service club founded in 1915 in Detroit, Michigan. It is headquartered in In ...

, but subsequently opted to be a pianist when she was aged 18 because her voice was not sufficiently developed enough. Under Jean Broadfoot and Gordon Kushner in Winnipeg and under Margaret Miller Brown at

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 ...

, Henig studied piano. She studied voice with Dorothy Allan Park and Lillian Smith Weichel. Heing earned the $1,000 Eaton Graduating Scholarship in Music for being the "student graduating with the highest standing from the Royal Conservatory of Music" in 1955. She performed as a soloist with the Halifax,

and

s as well as the

. Heing qualified for the finals of each of the 1956 and 1957 Naumberg competitions. In 1957, she made her debut in New York, performing

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

's Sonata in A minor at Steinway Concert Hall on December 21. Heing went on to be the guest artist with the Victoria Symphony Orchestra during her British Columbia Coast debut in

Sidney, British Columbia Sidney is a town located at the northern end of the Saanich Peninsula, on Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It's 1 of the 13 Greater Victoria municipalities. It has a population of approximately 11,583. Sidney is ...

on November 6, 1959. She also became nationally known by appearing in concerts broadcast on radio and television by the CBC and was a panelist on the

program ''Music and Opinion'' during 1973. In 1961, Henig went to Europe on a short visit, partaking in the International Competition for Musical Performers in Geneva and winning the Laureate there. She made her European debut in the

Concertgebouw The Royal Concertgebouw ( nl, Koninklijk Concertgebouw, ) is a concert hall in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The Dutch term "concertgebouw" translates into English as "concert building". Its superb acoustics place it among the finest concert halls in ...

in Amsterdam in the same year. After Canada heard of the news of her European debut, Henig undertook a number of engagements. In 1964, she undertook a more extensive tour of Europe, vising Austria, Greece and Spain and ended her tour at

Wigmore Hall Wigmore Hall is a concert hall located at 36 Wigmore Street, London. Originally called Bechstein Hall, it specialises in performances of chamber music, early music, vocal music and song recitals. It is widely regarded as one of the world's leadin ...

in London. Henig also recorded extensively for the BBC. Seven years later, Henig did a concert at the

National Gallery of Art The National Gallery of Art, and its attached Sculpture Garden, is a national art museum in Washington, D.C., United States, located on the National Mall, between 3rd and 9th Streets, at Constitution Avenue NW. Open to the public and free of char ...

in Washington, D.C. She was praised by the critic Paul Hume as "... impressive ... superb ... brilliant." Approaching the mid-1970s, Henig made fewer public appearances because she wanted to spend more time with her husband and two children. She was featured on the album ''Piano Portraits'' released by

Attic Records Attic Records was a Canadian independent record label, Henig undertook a second tour of Europe lasting three weeks in the following year. She also performed at the

Stratford Festival The Stratford Festival is a theatre festival which runs from April to October in the city of Stratford, Ontario, Canada. Founded by local journalist Tom Patterson in 1952, the festival was formerly known as the Stratford Shakespearean Festival ...

and at the

Charlottetown Festival The Charlottetown Festival is a seasonal Canadian musical theatre festival which runs from late May to mid-October every year since 1965. Named after its host city Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island and its Charlottetown Conference, since its inc ...

. In early 1978, Henig made her recital debut in New York at Carnegie Hall, performing as a chamber musician, singer and soloist as an accompanist for the Soviet oboist Senia Trubashnik.

Personal life

Henig was married to the pharmacist William Sidney. They had two children. On 15 May 1979, she was found dead at the wheel of her car in the garage of her home in Toronto. The cause of death was ruled as suicide.

Approach and legacy

She consistently spent five to six hours a day practising. Henig only played classical music and did not perform 12-tone works since she did not have much sympathy for that type of music. In 1982, a biography on Henig entitled ''Elusive Summit: The Biography Of Sheila Henig'' authored by the freelance writer Madeline Thompson and Henig's father was published.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Henig, Sheila 1934 births Canadian sopranos Canadian women pianists Canadian classical pianists Musicians from Winnipeg Toronto Symphony Orchestra members The Royal Conservatory of Music alumni 20th-century Canadian women singers 20th-century Canadian pianists 1979 suicides Suicides by carbon monoxide poisoning Suicides in Ontario 20th-century women pianists