Happy belated birthday to Mary Morrison!

Happy Birthay to Mary Morrison, soprano! I fortunate that I am able to write this entry just two days after her I wanted to just say a word about this important Canadian soprano and pedagogue. Ms. Morrison was born on November 9, 1926 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She received and Artist Diploma from The Royal Conservatory of Music in Canada in 1948. She has performed in the major orchestras in Canada. Her roles include, the countess, Pamina, Marguerite, Mimi, Marie in The Bartered Bride, Fiordiligi among others. Besides singing opera, Ms. Morrison’s most significant contributions are in contemporary Canadian art music. She has sung premieres by many composers including Jean Papineau Couture (who studies with Nadia Boulanger at Longy for a short time) and Oscar Morawetz. She played Sarah in the opera Louis Riel. She has also done Canadian premieres of European and U.S. works of Berio, Cage, Crumb, Peter Ligeti, Takemitsu, Xenakis and others. Mary Morrison married the composer Harry Freedman. She has taught in many Canadian universities and is still teaching at the University of Toronto. In 1983, she was made an officer of the Order of Canada.