Elliot Weisgarber

Elliot Weisgarber (1919 - 2001) was a Canadian composer, clarinetist and ethnomusicologist at the University of British Columbia from 1960 to 1984. He is the subject of "Marvellous!" The Life and Music of Elliot Weisgarber, a major biography written by his daughter Karen Suzanne Smithson, published in 2026.

Education Weisgarber studied clarinet with Rosario Mazzeo of the Boston Symphony and Gustave Langenus of New York. His composition teachers included Edward Royce, Bernard Rogers, Nadia Boulanger and Halsey Stevens. Colloquies (flute & orchestra) Concerto for viola and string orchestra (1957) Five Pieces for Bassoon & Piano Kyoto Landscapes (large orchestra) Night (chorus & string quartet plus double bass) Quartet No. 6 (string quartet) Quintet "Aotearoa" (clarinet & string quartet) Seven Poems by Robinson Jeffers (voice & piano) Six Hokusai Miniatures (violin & piano) Woodwind Quintet

Discography Elliot Weisgarber, Night, Vancouver Chamber Choir, Centrediscs, Canadian Music Centre, WRC8-6403, 1990 Elliot Weisgarber, Sonatine, Playing Tribute Aulos Trio, CanSona Arts Media, 1998. Elliot Weisgarber, Immanences, Erica Northcott, soprano; Rena Sharon, piano; Laura Butler Frank, soprano; Peter Breykin, piano, Hermissenda Recordings HR0214, 1998 Elliot Weisgarber, Miyako Sketches, Coastal Waves, Canadian Music Centre, WRC8-7233, 1998

Writings The Honkyoku of the Kinko-Ryu: Some Principles of its Organization, Journal of the Society for Ethnomusicology, vol. 12 no. 3, Sept. 1968 Mayonnaise on the Sashimi, Canadian Composer, 44, Nov. 1969 A Composer Explains his "Trans-cultural" Music, Canadian Composer, 88, Feb. 1974

Repositories of his Work In addition to the finished scores at the Canadian Music Centre, the University Archives at the University of British Columbia's Irving K. Barber Learning Centre house a large collection of his original manuscripts and sketches.