Gladys Egbert

Gladys Alma Egbert (née McKelvie; 31 December 1896 – 7 March 1968) was a Canadian music instructor. She was one of the founding members of the Western Board of Music, an examining body of music instruction that later became Conservatory Canada. Her family relocated to Calgary, Alberta in 1903, where she began studying piano under Ada Dowling Costigan shortly after arriving.

In 1909, Egbert became both the first Canadian and then-youngest student to receive a two-year scholarship to train at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Instead of accepting a third year that was offered to her by the academy, she relocated to New York in 1911 to study with Ignace Paderewski, Zygmunt Stojowski, and Ernest Hutcheson.

Career In 1919, following the death of her father, Neil McKelvie, Egbert returned to Calgary. Doing so meant declining to pursue a concert career, but Egbert opted to return in order to support her mother. continued intermittently until his death in 1951.

Known affectionately to her students as "Mrs. E.," she developed a reputation for being protective over those she taught, and taking as much of an interest in nurturing their personal development as their musical aptitude. The body conducted music education examinations in Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Manitoba, with an "outstanding" musician from each represented on the board. Egbert was selected to represent Alberta.

Also in 1936, Egbert became the first North American to be elected fellow of London's Royal Academy of Music.

In the 1960s, students of Egbert were well-represented among the winners of the CBC Radio Competitions for music. Egbert was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Calgary in 1965 (then a satellite campus of the University of Alberta). Through her marriage, Egbert's father-in-law was William Egbert, third lieutenant governor of Alberta.

Death Egbert died in 1968 at the age of seventy-one.

Dr. Gladys McKelvie Egbert School, a junior high school managed by the Calgary Board of Education, is named for Egbert.