Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1920-2002 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
28 cm of textual records. -- 2 audio discs. -- 4 audio cassettes. -- 1 photograph
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Minuetta Shumiatcher, 1914-2002, was born in Gomel, Russia when her mother, who had recently settled in Calgary, was visiting her native country. She was raised in Calgary and in 1920, at the age of five, made her debut as a pianist-composer. She received a personal scholarship with Ernest Hutcheson and studied at the Julliard School of Music in New York, USA from 1930 to 1936, receiving two diplomas in piano. She had a successful career as a composer and music teacher. Her Alberta Concerto premiered in Montreal in 1947 and she won two Canadian ASCAP Awards for composition. She also specialized in teaching music composition to young children. In 1984 she was awarded the first Master Teachers Certificate Diploma by the Music Teachers National Association in the USA. She married twice, first to Ernest Borek in the early 1940s and then to Myer M. Kessler in 1952. She had two children, Ronald Elliot Kessler and Jean (Brenner). She lived in Belmont, Massachusetts, USA where she ran her own publishing company, Musical Resources.
Repository
Archival history
Most of the records (M 7228) were originally deposited at the University of Calgary Library, but were transferred to the Glenbow in 1988.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Gift of Minuetta Kessler, Ronald Kessler, and University of Calgary Library, 1982-2003.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds consists of programs and newsclippings related to her musical career (1920-1993); recording and musical score for Alberta Concerto (1947); musical scores for various compositions, including Sharples Sonata, Alberta With Love, Lake O'Hara's Magic Circle, and Three Songs of Western Canada; games and piano pieces for children; recordings of Music for Solo Instruments (1979) and Childhood Cameos (1981); lists of her compositions; articles about teaching children; her memoirs; her obituary from the Boston Globe; her eulogy given by Ronald Kessler; and a portrait photograph.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
No restrictions on access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
The material is in English.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
No finding aid.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
The bulk of Minuetta Kessler's fonds is held by the Boston Public Library.
Notes area
Note
Title based on contents of records.
Note
M 6420 and M 7392 should be amalgamated with M 7228.
Note
Cultural History has two of her musical games.
Note
The 1989 and 1992 material was added to M 7228, but not separately accessioned.