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Leonard Heaton

Leonard Dunstan Heaton, pianist, teacher (born 1889 in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England; died 15 August 1963 in Winnipeg, MB).

Leonard Dunstan Heaton, pianist, teacher (born 1889 in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England; died 15 August 1963 in Winnipeg, MB). Leonard Heaton was a well-known piano teacher and a prominent member of Winnipeg’s music community.

Career

Heaton studied with Leopold Godowsky in London, with Rudolph Ganz in Europe and with Alberto Jonas in Berlin or possibly New York. He moved to Canada in 1907 and settled in Winnipeg, where he taught piano for over 50 years. Also active as a pianist, organist, examiner and adjudicator, he was president of the Men's Musical Club of Winnipeg (1923–25) and of the Manitoba Registered Music Teachers’ Association (1944–48), which he co-founded in 1919. His pupils included Jean Broadfoot, John Kuchmy, Edward Lincoln, Helen Martens, Gordon McLean, Ross Pratt, Joyce Redekop-Fink and Russell Standing.

Tributes and Legacy

The University of Manitoba Faculty of Music awards the annual Leonard Heaton Memorial Scholarship, established in 1968, and also has a practice room named in his honour. The house where he lived and taught piano has been declared a heritage building by the City of Winnipeg.