In Search of Alberto Guerrero

Ann Turner, formerly the financial and budget manager of the University
of British Columbia Library, is a freelance writer.

Though he was well-established as a virtuoso pianist both in his native
Chile and in Canada, and influenced generations of Canadian pianists as
a pedagogue at the Toronto Conservatory of Music for 40 years, Alberto
Guerrero was a modest man who disliked talking about himself or his
accomplishments. This reticence made researching the details of his life
nearly 50 years after his death extraordinarily difficult for his former
piano student, John Beckwith. Guerrero had many students who went on to
illustrious musical careers, including the much-publicized and
controversial Glenn Gould.

Beckwith himself is well-known as one of Canada’s outstanding
composers and music educators, and a former dean of the Faculty of Music
at the University of Toronto. He has carefully sifted through the often
conflicting published information about Guerrero in Chile and in Canada,
verifying the facts and filling in the gaps with the help of surviving
family members, colleagues, and official records. Beckwith knew Guerrero
personally from 1945, when he began lessons with him, until Guerrero’s
death in 1959. His reminiscences and those of the other students bring
their much-loved teacher and his pedagogical methods vividly to life
again. Extensive chapter endnotes add detail and identify the sources,
including books, journal articles, private papers, and personal
communications.

This is a well-documented, respectful portrait of the modest man who
gave so much to his students. It is also an enlightening look into
musical life in Chile prior to 1918, and in Canada and specifically
Toronto from 1918 to 1959.