John Beckwith (composer)

John Beckwith (composer)

John Beckwith, CM (born March 9, 1927) is a Canadian composer, writer, pianist, teacher, and administrator.

Born in Victoria, British Columbia, he studied piano with Alberto Guerrero at the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1945. He received a Mus.B. in 1947 and a Mus.M. in 1961 from the University of Toronto. From 1950 to 1951, he studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris.

He started teaching at in the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto in 1952. From 1970 to 1977, he was the dean of the faculty. He was founding director of the Institute for Canadian Music at the University of Toronto. He retired in 1990.

He has written over 130 compositions covering stage, orchestral, chamber, solo and choral genres.

In 1987, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada.