Glenn Gould was born in Ottawa, Ontario and grew up in a musical household. He studied piano and composition at the National Conservatory of Music, where he won awards for composition and piano performance. In 1955, he graduated with a Bachelor of Music degree. He went on to receive an M.A
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in 1958 and a Doctorate in 1964, both degrees from Columbia University.
Beyond the musical world, the accomplishments of Glenn Gould were limitless. He is one of Canada's most celebrated musicians and composers; his compositions have been performed by symphony orchestras across North America; he toured worldwide; and he received numerous awards for his compositions and performances, including the Governor General's Award (Canada).
As a pianist, he became known as one of the most technically proficient performers on the international stage.
He came to be recognized for his rare ability to make music appear effortless on stage; he also had an uncanny ability to capture the emotion of the music on record while playing it with such precision that it never sounded like a performance. Beyond these technical feats, Gould was known for his versatility as a musician: he played with jazz legends Oscar Peterson and Arturo Sandoval, recorded two jazz albums under Frank Sinatra's direction ("Sinatra & Gould") and performed countless classical works with orchestras around the world.
He was also a highly respected composer of classical music who wrote more than 60 works for orchestra, chamber ensemble, solo piano, voice, and other combinations involving up to 40 different instruments.
Many of these pieces have been performed internationally by leading orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, The Hallé Orchestra of Manchester, The LSO of London, The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra of London amongst others.
He was also an accomplished conductor who led many major orchestras in Canada and Europe including The National Orchestra of Canada in Ottawa (1956-1961), The Orchestre Symphonique de Montreal (1965-1967), The CBC Symphony Orchestra (1981), The Toronto Symphony Orchestra (1982-1984) and many others throughout Europe including Vienna's Vienna Symphony Orchestra (1963-1966), The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam (1969-1970), The Orchestre de Paris (1971-1973), The Berlin Philharmonic (1974-1975). In addition to his conducting work with orchestras, Gould directed several operas including "The Magic Flute" with Toronto Opera Company (1973)
