Nancy Paisley Benn

Benn, Nancy Paisley

(Anne) Nancy Paisley Benn (b Paisley). Teacher, conductor, b London 7 Dec 1894, d Vancouver 23 Oct 1972; LRAM ca 1911. She studied and taught piano and voice in England before coming to Canada ca 1920 with her husband, also a pianist. In Vancouver she continued to teach voice and piano, but it was chiefly in the vocal field that she made her name. Her voice pupils were consistently successful in the Vancouver Kiwanis Festival and elsewhere. They include Audrey Glass, Lilli Washimoto, Donald Bell, Ralph Lear, and Jack Ringham. She was an adjudicator (vocal and instrumental) at competitions throughout British Columbia and was a founding member of the BCRMTA. She was active in the Welsh musical community in Vancouver and ca 1931-50 directed the St Cecilia Choristers. During the 1940s and 1950s she led Music Makers (a children's choir). The Vancouver Kiwanis Festival awards a Nancy Paisley Benn Scholarship for accompanists and performers of art songs and a Mrs Paisley Benn Cup for boy soloists aged nine and younger.