István Anhalt

István Anhalt (April 12, 1919 – February 24, 2012) was a Hungarian-Canadian composer and teacher. Anhalt served as a professor of music at McGill University and founded the McGill University Electronic Music Studio. He also served as head of music at Queen’s University, Kingston. His works earned him recognition as one of the pioneers of electroacoustic music in Canada. In 2007, he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Early life and education Childhood István Anhalt was born in Budapest, Hungary to a Jewish family on April 12, 1919. He was the son of Arnold Anhalt and Katalin Anhalt (née Herzfeld), When he was still an infant, Anhalt’s parents separated; he lived with his mother until age twelve, attending elementary school from 1925 to 1929. Although she had some interest in music and opera, his mother was not especially musical. However, there was a piano in the home and Anhalt began taking piano lessons at age six with a teacher who lived in his neighborhood and later from a family friend until he was twelve. He also learned to speak four languages: Hungarian, German, French, and English. His father’s financial troubles, his half-sister’s birth in 1935, and tension