Violet Archer
composer, pianist, percussionist | 1913 - 2000
BornViolet Balestreri on April 24, 1913 in Montréal, Québec, Canada
DiedFebruary 21, 2000 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Biographyby Jay Somerset
In an era when recognized composers were almost invariably male, Violet Archer was a pioneer. One of the first Canadian composers and teachers to embrace contemporary classical music, she showed young women both onstage and in the classroom that writing music wasn’t solely a masculine pursuit. And she led by example, composing more than 300 pieces of music, among them the 1956 Piano Concerto and the many pieces she wrote for children, including her well-known “Jig.” Archer’s keen interest in folk music inspired her to incorporate then-unusual polyrhythm and modes into her classical works. The staunch supporter of modern music would see her values influence generations of young Canadian musicians—Tim Vesely, formerly of the Toronto art-rock group the Rheostatics, had her in mind when he called his subsequent band The Violet Archers. In 1983, Archer was made a Member of the Order of Canada; the following year, she received the Canadian Music Council’s Composer of the Year award. The Canadian Music Centre Prairie Region Library at the University of Calgary—known as the Violet Archer Library—is named in her honour.
In an era when recognized composers were almost invariably male, Violet Archer was a pioneer. One of the first Canadian composers and teachers to embrace contemporary classical music, she showed young women both onstage and in the classroom that writing music wasn’t solely a masculine pursuit. And she led by example, composing more than 300 pieces of music, among them the 1956 Piano Concerto and the many pieces she wrote for children, including her well-known “Jig.” Archer’s keen interest in folk music inspired her to incorporate then-unusual polyrhythm and modes into her classical works. The staunch supporter of modern music would see her values influence generations of young Canadian musicians—Tim Vesely, formerly of the Toronto art-rock group the Rheostatics, had her in mind when he called his subsequent band The Violet Archers. In 1983, Archer was made a Member of the Order of Canada; the following year, she received the Canadian Music Council’s Composer of the Year award. The Canadian Music Centre Prairie Region Library at the University of Calgary—known as the Violet Archer Library—is named in her honour.
Contemporary Country Singer-Songwriter | born 1961
artist, singer-songwriter | 1950 - 1996
