Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1921-2010, predominant 1947-1979 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
30 cm of textual records and other materials (3 boxes)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Elizabeth Benson Guy was a soprano, born in Halifax, Nova Scotia on December 7, 1925; died on July 8, 2010 in Scarborough, Ontario. Her first music teacher was her mother, Sarah Louise Anderson. She then studied with Ernesto Vinci (Halifax and the Toronto Conservatory of Music) and Lotte Leonard (Julliard School). She made her operatic debut in 1947 at the Royal Conservatory Opera School (now the University of Toronto Opera Division) as Marie in The Bartered Bride. She then sang with the CBC Opera Company, and appeared in many CBC radio opera productions and song recitals. She also performed with the Opera Festival Association of Toronto, the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir, and the Festival Singers. She debuted at Carnegie Hall in New York on May 10, 1959 and at Wigmore Hall in London on October 31, 1967. She retired from public performance in 1974.
Benson Guy taught at the Royal Conservatory of Music from 1969 to 1979 and at the University of Toronto Faculty of Music. She retired in 1979.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated from the Estate of Elizabeth Benson Dentay (nee Guy) in 2015 and 2020 (A2020-10).
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Fonds consists of the personal and professional papers of Elizabeth Benson Guy, including correspondence, photographs, programs, reviews, press notices, and manuscripts copied by or for Benson Guy.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
The A2020-10 accession also included Emmy Heim's lecture notes from lectures that she gave at the Royal Conservatory of Music; these notes can be found in the Emmy Heim fonds. The 2015 accession included some of Heim's programs and manuscripts written for, or copied by, Heim; these are also in the Emmy Heim fonds.