Beverly Glenn-Copeland

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Beverly Glenn-Copeland

| image =Beverlyglenncopeland.jpg

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1944|01}}

| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

| origin = Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada (now Tantramar, New Brunswick, Canada)

| genre = Jazz, new age, folk

| occupation = Songwriter, musician, actor

| instrument = Guitar, piano, synthesizer

| years_active = 1970–present

| label = GRT, Atlast

| associated_acts = {{hlist|Mr. Dressup|Lenny Breau|Bruce Cockburn|Doug Riley|Jeremy Steig|Don Thompson}}

| website = {{URL|https://beverlyglenncopeland.com}} and {{URL|www.songcycles.com}}

}}

Beverly Glenn-Copeland (born January 1944) is an American-born Canadian{{Cite web |title=Exclusive: Watch Beverly-Glenn Copeland's Incredible Lecture at the Red Bull Music Academy Weekender in Montreal |url=http://www.complex.com/music/2017/12/beverly-glenn-copeland-red-bull-music-academy-weekend-montreal |access-date=January 17, 2018 |website=Complex}}{{Cite web |last=Weldon |first=Tori |date=May 28, 2020 |title=Musician's meteoric rise comes to a crashing halt {{!}} CBC News |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/beverly-glenn-copeland-musician-art-sackville-covid-1.5587174 |access-date=December 10, 2023 |website=CBC}} singer-songwriter. His albums include Keyboard Fantasies (1986).{{cite web|access-date=2023-01-17|title=Keyboard Fantasies review – glorious doc about pioneering trans composer|url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2021/nov/09/keyboard-fantasies-review-glorious-doc-about-trans-composer-glenn-copeland|date=9 November 2021|website=The Guardian}} Glenn-Copeland began publicly identifying as a trans man in 2002.{{Cite web |title=Voice soars above gender, says transgender man performing in Toronto this week |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/beverly-glenn-copeland-music-queer-songbook-orchestra-1.4169877|website=Cbc.ca |access-date=December 1, 2017}}{{Cite news |title=The singer formerly seen as she |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/the-singer-formerly-seen-as-she/article980339/ |website=Theglobeandmail.com|access-date=December 4, 2017}}{{Cite web |title=Beverly Glenn-Copeland's Music for a Future That Never Came |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/09/21/beverly-glenn-copelands-music-for-a-future-that-never-came |access-date=September 15, 2020 |magazine=The New Yorker|date=September 11, 2020 }}

Early life

Glenn-Copeland was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to a musical family.{{cite news|first1=Josh|last1=Schot|access-date=2023-01-17|title=Musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland on growing up black and gay in Philadelphia, and finding fame at 70|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/musician-beverly-glenn-copeland-growing-black-gay-inphiladelphia/|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=10 April 2021|issn=0307-1235}} 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.

In 1961, Glenn-Copeland was one of the first black students to study at McGill University in Montreal.{{Cite web |last=Díaz |first=Devan |date=January 7, 2020 |title=Going Exploring With Beverly Glenn-Copeland |url=https://www.papermag.com/beverly-glenn-copeland-interview-2644273857.html |access-date=June 10, 2020 |website=Papermag.com}}

Musical career

Glenn-Copeland started his career as a folk singer incorporating jazz, classical, and blues elements.{{Cite web |title=Beverley Glenn-Copeland - Biography & History - AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/beverley-glenn-copeland-mn0001057985 |access-date=December 1, 2017 |website=AllMusic}} He also performed on albums by Ken Friesen, Bruce Cockburn, Gene Murtynec, Bob Disalle, and Kathryn Moses,{{Cite web |last=Archive |first=Canadian Jazz |date=2024-03-07 |title=Kathryn Moses Musician Biography {{!}} Canadian Jazz Archive Online |url=https://canadianjazzarchive.net/musicians/kathryn-moses.html |access-date=2024-03-08 |website=canadianjazzarchive.net |language=en}} and was a writer on Sesame Street.{{Cite news |last=Ryce |first=Andrew |title=Review: Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Copeland Keyboard Fantasies |work=Resident Advisor |url=https://www.residentadvisor.net/reviews/20437 |access-date=January 7, 2018}} He spent twenty-five years entertaining children as a regular actor on Canadian children's television show Mr. Dressup.{{Cite web |title=Beverly Glenn-Copeland |url=https://www.seance-centre.com/beverly-glenn-copeland/ |access-date=January 7, 2018 |website=Seance-centre.com}}

Glenn-Copeland's 1986 electronic album Keyboard Fantasies, recorded using equipment including a Yamaha DX7 and a Roland TR-707,{{Cite web|last=Ediriwira|first=Amar|date=October 20, 2016|title=Invisible City Editions preps Beverly Glenn-Copeland reissue|url=https://thevinylfactory.com/news/invisible-city-beverly-glenn-copeland-reissue/|access-date=January 8, 2021|website=The Vinyl Factory}} and other recordings were rediscovered and promoted by Japanese record collector Ryota Masuko in 2015.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2020/04/09/830213930/play-it-forward-glenn-copeland-on-patience-positivity-and-the-band-bernice|title=Play It Forward: Glenn Copeland On Patience, Positivity And The Band Bernice|website=Npr.org|access-date=May 30, 2021}}{{Cite web |title=The Incredible Life of Beverly Glenn-Copeland: Canadian Music's Unsung Hero {{!}} Exclaim! |url=https://exclaim.ca/music/article/beverly_glenn_copeland_interview_timeline |access-date=2024-03-08 |website=The Incredible Life of Beverly Glenn-Copeland: Canadian Music's Unsung Hero {{!}} Exclaim! |language=en}} 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.{{Cite web |title=The Problem with NPR's '150 Greatest Albums Made by Women' List |url=https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2017/07/27/25308219/the-problem-with-nprs-150-greatest-albums-made-by-women-list |website=Thestranger.com|access-date=December 1, 2017}} The album was named as the public vote winner of the Polaris Heritage Prize at the 2020 Polaris Music Prize.[https://www.fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2020/11/16/2020-slaight-family-polaris-heritage-prize-winners-named "2020 Slaight Family Polaris Heritage Prize Winners Named"]. FYI Music News, November 16, 2020. Keyboard Fantasies was remastered and reissued in February 2017 as Copeland Keyboard Fantasies by Invisible City Editions{{cite web|access-date=2023-01-17|title=Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Copeland Keyboard Fantasies · Album Review ⟋ RA|url=https://ra.co/reviews/20437|website=Resident Advisor}} 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).{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/14/arts/music/beverly-glenn-copeland-transmissions.html|title=Listeners Found Beverly Glenn-Copeland. It Was Time.|first=Grayson Haver|last=Currin|date=September 14, 2020|access-date=May 30, 2021|website=The New York Times}}

Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story, a documentary directed by Posy Dixon, was released in 2019.{{cite news |last1=Reynolds |first1=Daniel |title=The World Is Finally Ready for Trans Musical Genius Glenn Copeland |url=https://www.advocate.com/film/2020/8/28/world-finally-ready-trans-musical-genius-glenn-copeland |access-date=September 25, 2020 |work=The Advocate |date=August 28, 2020}}{{cite web|access-date=2023-01-17|title=Review: In 'Keyboard Fantasies,' legendary musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland gets his due|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2021-10-30/keyboard-fantasies-beverly-glenn-copeland-story-documentary-review|date=30 October 2021|website=Los Angeles Times}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Sanders |first=Wren |date=June 3, 2020 |title=GoFundMe Launched for Composer and Black Trans Elder Beverly Glenn-Copeland |url=https://www.them.us/story/gofundme-launched-for-beverly-glenn-copeland |access-date=June 7, 2020 |website=Them.us}} 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.Peter Knegt, [https://www.cbc.ca/arts/this-pride-come-inside-for-a-digital-queer-cabaret-unlike-anything-else-1.5617476 "This Pride, come inside for a digital queer cabaret unlike anything else"]. CBC Arts, June 22, 2020.

His 2023 album The Ones Ahead was a longlisted nominee for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize.[https://www.cbc.ca/music/polaris-music-prize-2024-long-list-the-beaches-charlotte-cardin-allison-russell-1.7230166 "2024 Polaris Music Prize long list: the Beaches, Tobi, Elisapie, Beverly Glenn-Copeland and more"]. CBC Music, June 11, 2024.

In 2024 Glenn was awarded an honorary doctorate from University of Toronto, and won the Joyce Warshow Lifetime Achievement Award from SAGE, an organization that focuses on advocacy and services for LGBTQ+ elders.

Personal life

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.{{Cite web|last=Negru|first=John Harvey|title=We're All Different: Musician Glenn Copeland on his journey as a Black, Buddhist, transgender artist - Lion's Roar|date=March 31, 2018 |url=https://www.lionsroar.com/were-all-different-musician-glenn-copeland-on-his-journey-as-a-black-buddhist-transgender-artist/|access-date=August 15, 2021}}

In September 2024, Glenn-Copeland shared that he has been diagnosed with dementia.{{cite news |last1=Snapes |first1=Laura |title=Acclaimed ambient composer Beverly Glenn-Copeland shares dementia diagnosis |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/sep/24/beverly-glenn-copeland-shares-dementia-diagnosis |access-date=24 September 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=24 September 2024}}

Discography

=Studio albums=

Beverly Copeland (1970)
Beverly Glenn-Copeland (1971)
At Last! (1980)
Keyboard Fantasies (1986){{cite web|access-date=2023-01-17|title=Beverly Glenn-Copeland: Keyboard Fantasies|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/beverly-glenn-copeland-keyboard-fantasies/|website=Pitchfork}}
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){{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/live-at-le-guess-who--mw0003430503|title=Beverly Glenn-Copeland – Live at Le Guess Who?|website=AllMusic|access-date=July 27, 2023}}
Transmissions: The Music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland (compilation, Transgressive, 2020){{cite web|access-date=February 2, 2021|title=Beverly Glenn-Copeland: Transmissions: The Music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/beverly-glenn-copeland-transmissions-the-music-of-beverly-glenn-copeland/|website=Pitchfork.com}}
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{{cite web|first1=David|last1=Smyth|access-date=2023-01-17|title=Beverly Glenn-Copeland - Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined review|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/music/beverly-glenn-copeland-keyboard-fantasies-reimagined-review-b970804.html|date=10 December 2021|website=Evening Standard}}{{cite news|access-date=2023-01-17|title=Beverly Glenn-Copeland: Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/music/beverly-glenn-copeland-keyboard-fantasies-reimagined-1.4755191|newspaper=The Irish Times}}
Transa a collection curated by Red Hot Org featured a Glenn Copeland collaboration with Sam Smith on a new version of ‘Ever New’ and a collaboration between Glenn and Devendra Banhart called "You Don't Know Me."{{Cite web |title=TRAИƧA, by Red Hot Org |url=https://redhot.bandcamp.com/album/tra-a |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Red Hot Org |language=en}}

Films

Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story (2019) – documentary directed by Posy Dixon{{cite news|first1=Billy|last1=Anania|access-date=2023-01-17|title=The Joyful Return of a Trans Icon and Electronic Music Pioneer|url=http://hyperallergic.com/708507/beverly-glenn-copeland-keyboard-fantasies/|date=14 February 2022|website=Hyperallergic}}
See You Tomorrow (forthcoming 2025) - documentary by Samantha Curley and Chase Joynt {{Cite web |last=Hansen |first=Candace |date=2024-12-10 |title=Beverly Glenn-Copeland's triumphant L.A. debut coincides with forthcoming doc about his dementia |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/music/story/2024-12-09/beverly-glenn-copeland-documentary-feature |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}