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Beverly Glenn-Copeland (born January 1944) is an American-born Canadian[1][2] singer-songwriter. His albums include Keyboard Fantasies (1986).[3] Glenn-Copeland began publicly identifying as a trans man in 2002.[4][5][6]
Beverly Glenn-Copeland | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 1944 (age 80) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Origin | Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada (now Tantramar, New Brunswick, Canada) |
| Genres | Jazz, new age, folk |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, musician, actor |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar, piano, synthesizer |
| Years active | 1970–present |
| Labels | GRT, Atlast |
| Website | beverlyglenncopeland |
Glenn-Copeland was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a musical family.[7] As a child, Glenn-Copeland listened to his father play the music of Bach, Chopin, and Mozart on the piano, and heard his mother occasionally sing spirituals.[6]
In 1961, Glenn-Copeland was one of the first black students to study at McGill University in Montreal.[8]
Glenn-Copeland started his career as a folk singer incorporating jazz, classical, and blues elements.[9] He also performed on albums by Ken Friesen, Bruce Cockburn, Gene Murtynec, Bob Disalle, and Kathryn Moses,[10][9] and was a writer on Sesame Street.[11] He spent twenty-five years entertaining children as a regular actor on Canadian children's television show Mr. Dressup.[12]
Glenn-Copeland's 1986 electronic album Keyboard Fantasies, recorded using equipment including a Yamaha DX7 and a Roland TR-707,[13] and other recordings were rediscovered and promoted by Japanese record collector Ryota Masuko in 2015.[6][14][15] Before Glenn-Copeland's gender transition was made public, Keyboard Fantasies was selected as one of the 70 greatest recordings by women by The Stranger.[16] The album was named as the public vote winner of the Polaris Heritage Prize at the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.[17] Keyboard Fantasies was remastered and reissued in February 2017 as Copeland Keyboard Fantasies by Invisible City Editions[18] and re-released again on vinyl that same year on Séance Centre.
Other albums by Glenn-Copeland include Beverly Copeland (1970), Beverly Glenn-Copeland (1971), At Last! (1980), Primal Prayer (released under the pseudonym Phynix in 2004), and the career-spanning compilation Transmissions (2020).[19]
Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story, a documentary directed by Posy Dixon, was released in 2019.[20][21]
Planned 2020 international tours to Australia, the United Kingdom, and other European destinations were rescheduled to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. A fundraising campaign was initiated to help Glenn-Copeland and his wife after the loss of their house that resulted from these changes; the campaign raised over $90,000.[22] In the same year, Glenn-Copeland created a prerecorded video performance of his song "Courage" for Buddies in Bad Times and CBC Gem's online Queer Pride Inside show.[23]
His 2023 album The Ones Ahead was a longlisted nominee for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize.[24]
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In 1973, while in Los Angeles, Glenn fell in love with the chanting at a local Soka Gakkai International meeting and has been a practicing Buddhist since the mid-1970s.[25]
In September 2024, Glenn-Copeland shared that he has been diagnosed with dementia.[26]
Studio albums
- Beverly Copeland (1970)
- Beverly Glenn-Copeland (1971)
- At Last! (1980)
- Keyboard Fantasies (1986)[27]
- Copeland Keyboard Fantasies (Invisible City, 2017) – remastered and reissued edition
- Copeland Keyboard Fantasies (Séance Centre, 2017) – on vinyl
- Primal Prayer (2004) – released under the pseudonym Phynix
- The Ones Ahead (Transgressive, 2023)
Other albums
- Live at Le Guess Who? (Transgressive, 2020)[28]
- Transmissions: The Music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland (compilation, Transgressive, 2020)[29]
- Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined (Transgressive, 2021) – Keyboard Fantasies tracks remixed/reworked by Bon Iver and Flock Of Dimes, and by Joseph Shabason and Thom Gill; remixed by Julia Holter, Arca, Ana Roxanne, Kelsey Lu, and Blood Orange; and performed by Jeremy Dutcher[30][31]
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- Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story (2019) – documentary directed by Posy Dixon[32]
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