collection 60 - Elizabeth Benson Guy fonds

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.