Born: 1924, Montreal, Quebec
Died: 2008,  Montreal, Quebec

Dorothy Breitman Morton was a Canadian pianist and music teacher. After graduating from BBHS in 1941, she studied theory and composition at the McGill Faculty of Music. She received her piano and chamber music training at the Conservatoire de musique du Québec, graduating with a Diplôme des hautes études. During in her career, Morton performed extensively on both radio and in concert and produced numerous recordings.

Morton returned to McGill’s Faculty of Music in 1967 as an assistant professor, eventually becoming a full professor.  She began teaching as a very young woman. With her unfailing innate musicality and her intense devotion to her students for over six decades, she played an important role in launching the careers of musicians from around the world, among them William Benjamin, Paul Berkowitz, Jamie Gelfand, Michel Kozlovsky, Robert Mayerovitch and Robert Silverman.  In addition, in the late 1970s to the late 1980s, she taught at the Orford Art Centre.

Morton was made professor emeritus at McGill University in 1996. The Dorothy Morton Visiting Artist Series Concert was named for her at McGill which has brought esteemed pianists such as Menahem Pressler, Peter Frankl and Gilbert Kalishn to perform for Montreal audiences.   Click here is read an article in a 2008 issue of the McGill Soundboard by a former student of Morton’s on her legacy.