Lyell Gustin
title: "Lyell Gustin" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1895-births", "1988-deaths", "canadian-male-pianists", "canadian-music-educators", "musicians-from-quebec", "musicians-from-saskatoon", "people-from-estrie", "piano-educators", "20th-century-canadian-male-musicians"] topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyell_Gustin" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Lyell Gustin |
| honorific_suffix | |
| image | |
| birth_name | Lyell Adams Raphael Gustin |
| birth_date | |
| birth_place | Fitch Bay, Quebec, Canada |
| death_date | |
| death_place | Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada |
| occupation | Pianist, music instructor |
| :: |
| name = Lyell Gustin | honorific_suffix = | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = Lyell Adams Raphael Gustin | birth_date = | birth_place = Fitch Bay, Quebec, Canada | death_date = | death_place = Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada | occupation = Pianist, music instructor
Lyell Gustin (May 31, 1895 – February 8, 1988) was a pianist, teacher and adjudicator active in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, from 1920 to the mid-1980s.
Early life
Gustin was born on May 31, 1895, in Fitch Bay, Quebec. He was educated there and at Stanstead College, where in 1912 he graduated with the highest marks in Canada for music diploma examinations. That same year he moved with his family to Saskatoon, where he studied for four years with Blanche St. John-Baker, a pupil of Leopold Godowsky. During the next four years, he studied with Jeannette Durno (a Canadian-born pupil of Theodor Leschetizky) in Chicago, and with Madeley Richardson in New York City and London.{{cite encyclopedia|url = https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/lyell-gustin-emc|title = Lyell Gustin|last = Mills|first = Isabelle M.|encyclopedia = The Canadian Encyclopedia |date = September 23, 2007|accessdate = January 11, 2016}}
Teaching career
Back problems prevented Gustin from becoming a concert pianist, so he became a piano instructor. Returning to Saskatoon in 1920, he established the Lyell Gustin Piano Studios, operated out of his house that was built the same year. Gustin House was designated a municipal heritage property in 1989.
Gustin served as an examiner for the Western Board of Music (now Conservatory Canada) and Toronto Conservatory and as a festival adjudicator. He was an executive member of the Saskatchewan Registered Music Teachers' Association and the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers' Association. In 1942 he was an originator of the Young Artist Competition, a concert tour to provide experience for young musicians, sponsored by the CFMTA. Gustin was a lecturer at the University of Regina and University of Saskatchewan. He also served as president of the CFMTA (1941–1946) and chaired the music committee (1952–1964) of the Saskatchewan Arts Board.
Gustin held monthly recitals where his music students were exposed to other forms of art, such as painting and literature. These were often done in partnership with his friend, painter Ernest Lindner.
Gustin was the subject of two documentaries: A Man and his Music by CFQC television in 1975, and in 1976 by CBC Radio.{{cite encyclopedia|url = http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/gustin_lyell_1895-1988.html|title = Gustin, Lyell (1895–1988)|last = Mills|first = Isabelle M.|encyclopedia = Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan|publisher = Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina |date = 2006|accessdate = January 11, 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615122418/http://esask.uregina.ca/entry/gustin_lyell_1895-1988.html|archivedate=2017-06-15}}
Notable students
- Garth Beckett
- Reginald Bedford
- Shirley Carlson
- Neil Chotem
- Robert Fleming
- Boyd McDonald
- Marguerita Spencer
Awards
Gustin received several honours during his life, including:
- University of Alberta National Music Award (1955)
- Honorary degree from the University of Saskatchewan (1969)
- Canadian Music Council Medal (1973)
- Honorary fellow of Trinity College, London (1978)
- Canadian Conference of the Arts Diplôme d’honneur (1983)
- Saskatchewan Order of Merit (1986)
References
References
- "About Lyell Gustin". Gustin/Trounce Heritage Committee Inc..
- "The Trounce House and The Gustin House". [[Canadian Register of Historic Places]].
- "The CFMTA Young Artist Competition". Saskatchewan Registered Music Teachers' Association.
- Keillor, Elaine. (2008). "Music in Canada: Capturing Landscape and Diversity". McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP.
- (March 2020). "Music and Painting: the Unity of the Arts in the Lyell Gustin Piano Studios". Art Placement.
- "Honorary Degrees". [[University of Saskatchewan]] Library.
- "Previous Recipients". [[Government of Saskatchewan]].
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