Anita Sleeman

Anita Sleeman (née Andrés) (December 12, 1930 – October 18, 2011) was a Canadian contemporary classical music composer. She was also a conductor, arranger, educator, and performer. Biography Life Born Anita Andrés December 12, 1930, in San Jose, California, to Alejandro Andrés from Salamanca, Spain, and Anita Dolgoff from Stavropol, Russia, Sleeman began taking piano lessons at age three and took up trumpet and French horn at school in San Francisco. While there, her music teachers noted her exceptional abilities at an early age (she began to show a talent for composition at age eight). Sleeman attended Placer Junior College as a music student. She met her future husband, Evan Sleeman, in Placer County and they married in 1951. They purchased a ranch in Elko County, Nevada, and along with their six children immigrated to Canada in 1963. They lived on a ranch in the remote Anahim Lake area near Bella Coola. In 1967, the couple relocated to Tsawwassen, Metropolitan Vancouver. Throughout her life she played the French horn in a variety of stage and concert bands and performed as a keyboardist in jazz ensembles. Career At age 19 Sleeman composed a march that was played at her community