Article

E.C. Kerby Ltd.

Published Online February 7, 2006

Last Edited December 13, 2013

E.C. Kerby Ltd. Publishing company established in 1971 in Toronto by Elvira Colombo Kerby, who came to Canada from the USA. She is the wife of Franco Colombo, who for many years was a music publisher in New York.

E.C. Kerby Ltd. Publishing company established in 1971 in Toronto by Elvira Colombo Kerby, who came to Canada from the USA. She is the wife of Franco Colombo, who for many years was a music publisher in New York. Kerby has published music in all genres, by several Canadians, including Robert Aitken, Louis Applebaum, Keith Bissell, Donald Coakley, Malcolm Forsyth, Harry Freedman, Rudolph Komorous, Norman Sherman, Jack Sirulnikoff, Harry Somers, Donald Steven, and Norman Symonds, as well as by many US composers. The Canadian distributor for the US publishers Consort Music Inc of Connecticut and Philadelphia Corp, and the North American agent for Amphion Éditions musicales of Paris, Kerby also secured the world distribution rights to the catalogue of Colfranc, publisher of the works of Edgard Varèse. Kerby was a CAPAC member. A subsidiary, Caveat Music Publishers Ltd, was a PRO Canada affiliate. Printing was done at the W.R. Draper Co in Weston, Ont, and plate numbers were used.

On the retirement of Elvira and Franco Colombo in 1989, the company was sold to G. Ricordi, Milan, who retained the Colfranc catalogue but appointed Boosey & Hawkes (Canada) as agents for the E.C. Kerby catalogue, to administer copyright and to publish. World distribution was assigned to Hal Leonard Publishing of Wisconsin.