Fonds F1672 - Mary Shortt fonds

Mary Lesingham Shortt, 1918-2009, was born in Calgary, Alberta, the daughter of Lesingham Henry Dicken Shortt, 1878-1966, and Annie Brown Shortt, 1884-1975. She studied music under Annie Glen Broder and Grigori Garbovitsky, and by the age of 16 had her LRSM (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music) in both violin and piano. In 1935 she received a scholarship and moved to London, England to study at the Royal College of Music. She received her ARCM (Associate of the Royal College of Music) in 1937 and continued her studies there until 1939. She returned to Canada in September 1939 and began a long career as a violin teacher. During the 1950s she played with the Jean Cotton trio, which performed regularly at the Banff Springs Hotel. During the 1950s and 1960s she also played with the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, and performed during Back to the Bible Hour radio broadcasts.