# Monica Gaylord

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Canadian pianist

Monica Gaylord Born (1948-02-06) February 6, 1948 (age 78) St. Albans, Queens, New York, US Education Juilliard School, Eastman School of Music (B.Mus, M.Mus) Instrument Piano Member of The Royal Conservatory of Music Formerly of Toronto Symphony Orchestra, National Arts Centre Orchestra Website rcmusic.com/bios/monica-gaylord

Musical artist

**Monica Gaylord** (born 1948) is a [Caribbean-Canadian](/source/Caribbean_Canadians) pianist, harpsichordist, and [teacher](/source/Piano_pedagogy).[1]

In 2020, during [Black History Month](/source/Black_History_Month), she was honoured by the [Government of Canada](/source/Government_of_Canada) alongside [Measha Brueggergosman](/source/Measha_Brueggergosman), [Oscar Peterson](/source/Oscar_Peterson), [Portia White](/source/Portia_White), and [Eleanor Collins](/source/Eleanor_Collins) among "notable Black people in Canada who have helped shape Canadian heritage and identity."[2][3]

## Early life and education

Gaylord was born in [St. Albans, Queens](/source/St._Albans%2C_Queens), in 1948 to [Jamaican](/source/Jamaica) parents. At the age of 9, she featured as a [piano prodigy](/source/Child_prodigy#Music_prodigies) on *[The Lawrence Welk Show](/source/The_Lawrence_Welk_Show)*.[4][5] The following year, she began her studies at [Juilliard](/source/Juilliard_School) with [Jane Carlson](/source/Jane_Carlson). Gaylord graduated from Juilliard in 1963, and went on to receive [Bachelor of Music](/source/Bachelor_of_Music) (1968) and [Master of Music](/source/Master_of_Music) degrees (1969) from [Eastman](/source/Eastman_School_of_Music), where she studied with [Cécile Genhart](/source/C%C3%A9cile_Genhart).[1][6]

## Career

Gaylord moved to Canada in 1970 to become the orchestral pianist for the [Toronto Symphony Orchestra](/source/Toronto_Symphony_Orchestra) and the [National Arts Centre Orchestra](/source/National_Arts_Centre_Orchestra) (NACO). She also featured as a soloist with the [Hamilton Philharmonic](/source/Hamilton_Philharmonic), the [Victoria Symphony Orchestra](/source/Victoria_Symphony_Orchestra), and the [Calgary Philharmonic](/source/Calgary_Philharmonic).[1][7]

Contemporary reviewers noted her keyboard playing for its "blend of power and charm," with [Ronald Hambleton](/source/Ronald_Hambleton) describing her musicianship as "endowed with both subtlety and strength and shows admirable calm and warmth."[8] [James Montgomery](/source/James_Montgomery_(composer)) dedicated his 1979 [CBC](/source/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation) commission *I Have Come Through,* a composition which "highlights the wide-ranging textural and timbral capabilities of the piano," to Gaylord.[9] [Glenn Gould](/source/Glenn_Gould) referred to Gaylord as "an artist who combines astonishing versatility with extraordinary insights,"[10] and composed *Monica—Her Madrigal* in her honour.[11]

In March 1978, Gaylord premiered [R. Murray Schafer](/source/R._Murray_Schafer)'s *Adieu [Robert Schumann](/source/Robert_Schumann)* with [Maureen Forrester](/source/Maureen_Forrester) and NACO in Ottawa, proceeding on tour.[12] Later that year, on 5 November, Prime Minister [Pierre Trudeau](/source/Pierre_Trudeau) invited Gaylord to play for an assembly of visiting African heads of state, where she was described as "the surprise hit... the PM's personal choice to play the piano... [and] the centre of attention."[13][14] Gaylord continued to feature at the [National Arts Centre](/source/National_Arts_Centre), often with Forrester, for major Canadian state visits through the mid-1980s, including a performance for Chinese Premier [Zhao Ziyang](/source/Zhao_Ziyang).[15][16]

Gaylord also continued to be active in [new music](/source/Contemporary_classical_music), featuring as a soloist with [New Music Concerts](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=New_Music_Concerts&action=edit&redlink=1) in Toronto on and their 1977 European tour.[1] She premiered David Keane's *Lyra* for piano and [tape](/source/Electroacoustic_music#Tape_music) (1978) in January 1979 at the first annual Festival of Electronic Music, hosted by [The Music Gallery](/source/The_Music_Gallery) in Toronto. A recording of that performance was subsequently released on the Music Gallery Editions label (MGE-29).[17][18] She toured Europe in 1985 with the [Canadian Electronic Ensemble](/source/Canadian_Electronic_Ensemble) (CEE), performing at the [Holland Festival](/source/Holland_Festival).[19] CEE founding member [David Jaeger](/source/David_Jaeger_(composer)), reflecting on that period in a 2021 interview, named Gaylord as one of a handful of "fabulous performers" that contemporary composers considered as ideal collaborators, describing her playing of his [tone poem](/source/Tone_poem) *Quivi sospiro* (1979) as "[virtuoso](/source/Virtuoso)."[20]

In 1986, Gaylord joined the faculty of [The Royal Conservatory of Music](/source/The_Royal_Conservatory_of_Music), where she continues to teach, co-authoring the institutions's piano workbooks.[6][1][21]

She has been especially active in performing and promoting the work of Black composers and Canadian women composers,[1] remarking that the latter was necessary "because so many are under the impression that there are no women composers in Canada."[22] She premiered [Mary Gardiner](/source/Mary_Gardiner)'s *Concerto for piano, string orchestra and drum set* (1977) at the first concert dedicated to women composers' works in Toronto.[23][24] With the support of a grant from the [National Endowment for the Arts](/source/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts), she recorded *Black Piano – A Treasury of Works for Solo Piano by Black Composers*, featuring music by [William Grant Still](/source/William_Grant_Still), [Oscar Peterson](/source/Oscar_Peterson), [Duke Ellington](/source/Duke_Ellington), [Howard Swanson](/source/Howard_Swanson), [Robert Nathaniel Dett](/source/Robert_Nathaniel_Dett), [Ulysses Kay](/source/Ulysses_Kay), [John Wesley Work III](/source/John_Wesley_Work_III), and [Samuel Coleridge-Taylor](/source/Samuel_Coleridge-Taylor). The album was released on [Music & Arts](/source/Music_%26_Arts)' "Programs of America" label (CD 737-1) in 1992, and re-released as *Piano Music by William Grant Still and Other Black Composers* in 1998.[25][1][26][27]

Writing in *[The Musical Times](/source/The_Musical_Times)*, David Wright praised Gaylord's playing on *Black Piano* as consistently excellent, noting the "striking" quality of her performance of works by Peterson, Ellington, and Coleridge-Taylor in particular.[28]

## In photography

Gaylord is the subject of two notable black-and-white photographs by Walter Curtin that are part of the permanent collection of the [National Gallery of Canada](/source/National_Gallery_of_Canada), taken when Curtin was engaged in "an extensive project documenting Canada's classical music scene" in the 1970s, with a focus on "current pianists" including Gaylord and [Angela Hewitt](/source/Angela_Hewitt).[29][30][31] These photographs are also described and reproduced in Kenneth Winters' 1994 book *Curtin Call: A Photographer's Candid View of 25 Years of Music in Canada.* The first is a striking image of the performer seated at the piano, wearing a white jacket, white gloves, and a white mask, taken at [Walter Hall](/source/University_of_Toronto_Faculty_of_Music#Facilities) in 1973.[32][33] The second is of Gaylord and another pianist, Heléna Bowkun, at work and rest respectively, in rehearsal at the [Art Gallery of Ontario](/source/Art_Gallery_of_Ontario) for a [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation](/source/Canadian_Broadcasting_Corporation) concert performance of James Montgomery's *Riverrun*, composed for three amplified pianos.[34][35]

The [Toronto Public Library](/source/Toronto_Public_Library) Digital Archive holds three further photographs of Gaylord through the [Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star) Photograph Archive: two by photographer Boris Spremo, taken in 1977 aboard the [MS *Jadran*](/source/Captain_John's_Harbour_Boat_Restaurant), and a portrait by Dick Darrell from 1973.[36]

## Personal life

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Gaylord had a romantic relationship with Pierre Trudeau, then Prime Minister of Canada, that attracted considerable public interest in Canada, making front-page news.[37][38]

## Notes

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-MGCE_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-MGCE_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-MGCE_1-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-MGCE_1-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-MGCE_1-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-MGCE_1-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-MGCE_1-6) ["Monica Gaylord"](https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/monica-gaylord-emc), *Canadian Encyclopedia*, 2007

1. **[^](#cite_ref-GCBHM_2-0)** ["Noteworthy Figures"](https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/campaigns/black-history-month/black-canadians.html), *Black History Month*, Government of Canada, accessed 16 December 2025

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BHM2020_3-0)** ["Celebrating Notable Canadians for Black History Month"](https://www.innovateinc.co/celebrating-notable-canadians-for-black-history-month/), Innovate Inclusion, 7 February 2020

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Welk1958_4-0)** "Lawrence Welk's Top Tunes and New Talent", *[The Lawrence Welk Show](/source/The_Lawrence_Welk_Show)*, [ABC](/source/American_Broadcasting_Company), 3 February 1958, 9:30pm

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Clarkson 2010, pp. 233–234

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-MGRCM_6-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-MGRCM_6-1) ["Biography: Monica Gaylord"](https://www.rcmusic.com/bios/monica-gaylord), [The Royal Conservatory of Music](/source/The_Royal_Conservatory_of_Music), accessed 15 December 2025

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Winters 1995, p. 122

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Clarkson 2010, p. 234

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** Woloshyn 2023, p. 216

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** Clarkson 2010, p. 229

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** Clarkson 2010, p. 239

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Elliott2003_12-0)** Robin Elliott (September 2003), ["Intertextuality in R. Murray Schafer's *Adieu Robert Schumann*: an Essay in Honour of the Composer's 70th Birthday"](http://sites.utoronto.ca/icm/0103a.html), *[Institute for Canadian Music](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Institute_for_Canadian_Music&action=edit&redlink=1) Newsletter*, 1(3), pp. 3–12

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Globe1978_13-0)** "Toronto pianist catches Trudeau's eye", *[The Globe & Mail](/source/The_Globe_%26_Mail)*, 6 November 1978, p. 8

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** Clarkson 2010, pp. 235–236

1. **[^](#cite_ref-TOStar1984_15-0)** Sid Adilman (12 January 1984), "Canadian talent ready for Chinese premier", *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, p. E1

1. **[^](#cite_ref-LS1984_16-0)** "Émission spéciale à Radio-Canada", *[Le Soleil](/source/Le_Soleil)*, 17 January 1984, p. A2

1. **[^](#cite_ref-DKCE_17-0)** ["David Keane"](https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/david-keane), *Canadian Encyclopedia*, 2013

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CUMR1980_18-0)** David Piper (1980), "Record Review: David Keane, *Lyra*. Musical Gallery Editions MGE 29" (1979), *Canadian University Music Review*, (1), pp. 156–157

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Woloshyn 2023, p.47

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Intersections2021_20-0)** Matthew Fava and Alexa Woloshyn (2021), "The Canadian Electronic Ensemble in the 1970s and 1980s", *Intersections: the Canadian Journal of Music* 41(2), pp. 21–27

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** Winters 1994, p. 123

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Clarkson 2010, p. 234

1. **[^](#cite_ref-HRG1995_23-0)** Janice Drakich, Edward Kovarik, and Ramona Lumpkin, eds (1995), *With a Song in Her Heart: a Celebration of Canadian Women Composers*, Humanities Research Group, University of Windsor Press, p. 79

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Pool2008_24-0)** Jeannie Gayle Pool (2008), "Canadian Composer Mary Gardiner: Celebrating Her 75th Year", *Journal of the [International Alliance for Women in Music](/source/International_Alliance_for_Women_in_Music)*, 14(1), pp. 13–19

1. **[^](#cite_ref-NEA1991_25-0)** *NEA Annual Report*, [National Endowment for the Arts](/source/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts), 1991, p. 170

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Murchison2005_26-0)** Gayle Murchison (Spring/Fall 2005), "Current Research Twelve Years after the William Grant Still Centennial", *Black Music Research Journal*, 25(1/2), pp. 119–154

1. **[^](#cite_ref-BMRJ2001_27-0)** Dominique-René de Lerma (Autumn 2001), "Preface", *Black Music Research Journal*, 12(2), pp. 127–132

1. **[^](#cite_ref-TMT1993_28-0)** David Wright (January 1993), "CD Reviews", *[The Musical Times](/source/The_Musical_Times)*, 134(1799), p. 44

1. **[^](#cite_ref-WCCE_29-0)** ["Walter Curtin"](https://thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/walter-curtin), *Canadian Encyclopedia*, 2013

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** Clarkson 2010, p. 229

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** Winters 1994, p. 20

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Curtin1973_32-0)** Walter Curtin (1973), ["Monica Gaylord, Toronto"](https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artwork/monica-gaylord-toronto), National Gallery of Canada, 74-X-1883

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** Winters 1994, p. 112

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Curtin1978_34-0)** Walter Curtin (1978), ["Pianist at Rest: Helena Bowkun with Monica Gaylord (left) and Billie Bridgman (right)..."](https://www.gallery.ca/collection/artwork/pianist-at-rest-helena-bowkun-with-monica-gaylord-left-and-billie-bridgman-right), National Gallery of Canada, EX-84-429

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** Winters 1994, p. 113

1. **[^](#cite_ref-TPLDA_36-0)** ["People: Gaylord, Monica, 1948-–"](https://digitalarchive.tpl.ca/people/44315/gaylord-monica-1948/objects), [Toronto Public Library](/source/Toronto_Public_Library), accessed 16 December 2025

1. **[^](#cite_ref-TOStar1982_37-0)** "On the town: Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his date, classical pianist Monica Gaylord...", *[Toronto Star](/source/Toronto_Star)*, 16 March 1982, pp. A1, B1

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** Clarkson 2010, p. 240

## References

- Clarkson, Michael (2010). *The Secret Life of Glenn Gould*, [ECW Press](/source/ECW_Press).

- Winters, Kenneth (1994). *Curtin Call: A Photographer's Candid View of 25 Years of Music in Canada*, [Exile Editions](/source/Exile_Editions).

- Woloshyn, Alexa (2023). *An Orchestra at My Fingertips: A History of the Canadian Electronic Ensemble*, [McGill-Queen's University Press](/source/McGill-Queen's_University_Press).

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Monica Gaylord](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Gaylord) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monica_Gaylord?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.