Diana Lawton

Diana Lawton
File:Diana Lawton.jpg Diana Lawton in 2006 Portrait of Diana Lawton
Background information
Birth name	Margaret Diana Lawton
Born	(1939-08-24)August 24, 1939 Saint John, NB, Canada
Died	July 9, 2023(2023-07-09) (aged 83) Victoria, BC, Canada
Occupation(s)	Pianist, Pedagogue
Instruments	Piano
Years active	1959–2012
Website	dianalawton.com

Diana Lawton (24 August 1939 – 9 July 2023) was a Canadian classical pianist, piano pedagogue, adjudicator, and educator. After studying at the Collège Notre-Dame d'Acadie in Moncton and the École de musique Vincent-d'Indy in Montreal, she pursued advanced studies in Canada and Europe. She performed as a soloist, chamber musician, and accompanist in Canada and abroad, and taught at the Maritime Conservatory of Music, the Royal Conservatory of Music, the University of Ottawa, and the University of Victoria. She was also active as a music festival adjudicator and masterclass instructor throughout Canada.

Early life and education

Born in Saint John, New Brunswick, Lawton began studying the piano at an early age, winning Silver Medals from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto, in 1954 and 1955. After her graduation from the Rothesay Netherwood School for Girls in 1957, she studied piano performance for one year at the Collège Notre-Dame d'Acadie in Moncton with a scholarship, awarded in the 1957 New Brunswick Music Festival.

In 1959, she received a scholarship to enrol in the École de musique Vincent-d'Indy, affiliated with the Université de Montréal. She studied music theory with Claude Champagne and piano performance with Yvonne Hubert. Hubert had studied under Alfred Cortot, who in turn was a pupil of Émile Decombes, a student of Frédéric Chopin. Lawton earned the "Diplôme Académique" (1960), "Spécialisation en Piano" (1961), "Maîtrise en Piano" (1962), "Diplôme D'Artiste" (1962), and "Diplôme de Concertiste" (1964), graduating "avec très grande distinction". These diplomas correspond to the B.Mus. and M.Mus. degrees in the anglophone academic system. She also received the ARCT Associateship Diploma (Solo Performer) with "First Class Honors" in 1960 from the Royal Conservatory of Music, Toronto.

During her first year at the École Vincent-d'Indy, Lawton won top honors in the Concerto class at the first National Festival of Music in Montreal in 1959, and performed as a guest soloist with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra conducted by Wilfrid Pelletier. She also won First Prize in the "Festivals de Music du Québec" in 1961 and the Best Chamber Musician Award at the Québec Provincial Music Competition. In 1963, Lawton attended an advanced summer course in piano interpretation with Boris Roubakine at the Banff School of Fine Arts, Alberta, Canada, earning an Outstanding Piano Student Award.

Lawton received a cultural grant from the Province of New Brunswick to pursue postgraduate studies from January 1966 to November 1967 with Friedrich Wührer at the Hochschule für Musik in Munich, Germany, and at the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. In 1977, she studied with Ivan Moravec in an advanced concert performance course in Prague. She also collaborated with the Austrian-born British musicologist and critic Hans Keller during visits in 1982 and 1983 in London and at the Dartington International Summer School.

Career

By 1968, Lawton had performed solo recitals and chamber music in Canada, the US, and Europe, and had toured with the New Brunswick Symphony as guest soloist at its centennial 1967-1968 series of concerts. That year, she was appointed to her first academic position at the Maritime Conservatory of Music in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she taught piano interpretation and technique for one year. She also performed regularly in solo recitals for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), including appearances with the CBC Halifax Chamber Orchestra.

After performing as a soloist and chamber musician in Canada and Europe, Lawton joined the faculty of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, where she taught from 1969 to 1978 and served on academic and examination committees.

From 1978 to 1980, she was on the faculty of the School of Music at the University of Ottawa. Alongside her teaching, she performed as a soloist and with the concert master and principal musicians of the National Arts Centre Orchestra. Between 1980 and 1992, she taught private students at all levels in her Ottawa studio, as well as several students enrolled in the music departments of the University of Ottawa and Carleton University.

After relocating to Victoria, British Columbia, in 1992, she maintained a private studio until 2009, taught masterclasses, and adjudicated at music festivals and competitions in Canada as well as in Germany and Italy. From 2002 to 2004, she held a sessional appointment in the School of Music of the University of Victoria, teaching piano performance and accompaniment. As a performer she focused on collaborative work as a chamber musician and accompanist.

From 2009 to 2012, she lived in Singapore, where she gave several invited lectures and served as a jury member at the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA), and was in charge of International Liaison as a member of the Executive Committee of the Chopin Society (Singapore), founded in 2009. She returned to Victoria in 2012.

References

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