11 Facts About Helen Walker-Hill

Helen Walker-Hill was a Canadian pianist and musicologist who specialised in the music of black women composers.

Helen Walker-Hill was born on May 26,1936, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.

Helen Walker-Hill received her early musical training from her mother, Margaret Siemens, and continued piano studies with Emma Endres Kountz in Toledo, Ohio.

Helen Walker-Hill received her BA degree from the University of Toledo, and was a Fulbright fellow at the Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris in France where she studied with Nadia Boulanger ; on the ship she met George Walker.

Helen Walker-Hill earned an MA in musicology from Smith College and a DMA in piano performance from the University of Colorado, where from 1983 to 1990 she was assistant professor adjunct on the piano faculty.

From 1987 on, wanting to use music of black women composers in her piano performance and teaching, Helen Walker-Hill dedicated herself to uncovering the material.

Helen Walker-Hill utilized secondary sources and numerous archives, conducted interviews with composers, and engaged in voluminous correspondence with individuals and institutions.

Helen Walker-Hill's lecture "Rediscovering Heritage: The Music of Black Women Composers" was widely published and was featured on National Public Radio.

Helen Walker-Hill continued traveling throughout the United States to locate and interview composers.

Helen Walker-Hill donated the bulk of her collection of taped interviews with composers, scores, photos, and other research materials to the CBMR Library and Archives as the Helen Walker-Hill Collection.

In 2006, Helen Walker-Hill consulted with the CBMR on the production of a concert of piano, vocal, and chamber works from her collection.