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John Beckwith (March 9, 1927 – December 5, 2022) was a Canadian composer, writer, pianist, teacher, and university administrator.Born in Victoria, British Columbia, he studied piano with Alberto Guerrero at the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1945. Beckwith received a Bachelor of Music (Mus.B.) in 1947 and a Master of Music (Mus.M.) in 1961 from the University of Toronto. In 1950-51, he studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris. He began teaching at University of Toronto's Faculty of Music in 1952. From 1970-77, he was the dean of the faculty. He was founding director of the Institute for Canadian Music at the University of Toronto. In 1987, he was made a member of the Order of Canada. He retired in 1990.
Beckwith wrote over 160 compositions covering stage, orchestral, chamber, solo and choral genres. He also wrote 17 books, the last of which - Music Annals: Research and Critical Writings by a Canadian Composer - was published shortly before his death in 2022.