Violet Archer

Violet Louise Archer[1] CM (24 April 1913 – 21 February 2000) was a Canadian composer, teacher, pianist, organist, and percussionist.

[3] Archer travelled to New York City in the summer of 1942 and studied composition, including Hungarian folk music and variation technique, with Béla Bartók.

[7] In addition to percussion, Archer played clarinet and strings,[8] and worked in Montréal as an accompanist and organist.

[2] Examples of her wide-ranging work include a 1973 comic opera, Sganarelle, the film score for a 1976 documentary, Someone Cares, and experiments with electronic music.

[6] Her music includes some 90 compositions for novice musicians, written to acquaint performers and audiences with modern concepts of harmony, melody, and rhythm.

[13][14] In 2021, Violet Archer fonds held at University of Alberta Archives was added to the Canada Memory of the World Register.

Black and white photograph of Violet Archer on graduation day at Yale University
Violet Archer on graduation day, Yale University. Source: University of Alberta Archives