Canadian composers for kids: who to hear first

Start with Oscar Peterson, Calixa Lavallée, and Alexina Louie. Peterson wrote “Hymn to Freedom.” Lavallée wrote the music for “O Canada.” Louie wrote sets of piano pieces for young players. Five more composers follow below, with one piece to play first for each. At the end is a table of Canadian pieces that piano students meet in their Royal Conservatory books.

Eight composers at a glance

Composer	Years	Play this first
Calixa Lavallée	1842 to 1891	“O Canada”
R. Nathaniel Dett	1882 to 1943	“Juba,” from In the Bottoms
Jean Coulthard	1908 to 2000	“Star Gazing”
Oscar Peterson	1925 to 2007	“Hymn to Freedom”
André Mathieu	1929 to 1968	Concerto de Québec
Alexina Louie	Born 1949	Star Light, Star Bright
Barbara Assiginaak	Born 1966	“Niimi Aandeg (Crow Dances)”
Christine Donkin	Born 1976	“Crafty Card Tricks”

Calixa Lavallée

Lavallée was born in Verchères, Quebec, in 1842. He worked as a pianist, a conductor, and a teacher in Canada and in the United States. In 1880 he wrote the music for a new national song, with French words by Adolphe-Basile Routhier. Three bands played it for the first time on June 24, 1880, at a banquet in Quebec City.

That song was “O Canada.” It became the national anthem by law 100 years later, in 1980.

Play this first: “O Canada.” Your child knows the tune. Ask who wrote it.

R. Nathaniel Dett

Dett was born in 1882 in Drummondville, Ontario, a village that is now part of Niagara Falls. He spent his working life in the United States as a pianist, a composer, and a choir director. His piano suite In the Bottoms ends with “Juba,” a dance with stamping, clapping rhythms.

A dance by Dett is on the Level 10 list in the Royal Conservatory piano syllabus.

Play this first: “Juba.” It lasts about two minutes. Clap along with the beat.

Jean Coulthard

Coulthard was born in Vancouver in 1908 and died in 2000. Her mother was a music teacher and gave her the first lessons. She was the first composer from Canada’s West Coast to become known across the country. She taught composition at the University of British Columbia.

Coulthard wrote for orchestra, for voice, and for chamber groups. She also wrote piano pieces for students. Several are in the Royal Conservatory lists.

Play this first: “Star Gazing,” a Level 5 piano piece.

Oscar Peterson

Peterson was born in Montreal in 1925 and died in 2007. He began on trumpet and piano at age five. He became a jazz pianist with a career around the world.

Peterson was a composer as well as a player. He wrote “Hymn to Freedom” in 1962. People in the civil rights movement took it up as an anthem. His Canadiana Suite, from 1964, is a train trip across Canada in eight pieces. His father worked as a railway porter. Two pieces from the suite, “Laurentide Waltz” and “Land of the Misty Giants,” are on the Royal Conservatory piano lists.

Play this first: “Hymn to Freedom.” Then try “Place St. Henri” from the Canadiana Suite. It is named for the Montreal neighborhood where he grew up.

André Mathieu

Mathieu was born in Montreal in 1929. He was a child prodigy. At age four he wrote and played his first work, a set of three studies for piano. He died in 1968, at 39.

Play this first: the Concerto de Québec, for piano and orchestra. For more children who wrote music, read child prodigy composers.

Alexina Louie

Louie was born in Vancouver in 1949. She began piano lessons at seven and earned her ARCT diploma in piano at 17. She wrote “The Ringing Earth” for the opening of Expo 86 in Vancouver. She has won two Juno Awards for her compositions.

Louie has written three sets of pieces for young pianists: Music for Piano, Star Light, Star Bright, and Small Beautiful Things. Star Light, Star Bright has nine short pieces about the stars.

Play this first: a piece from Star Light, Star Bright, such as “Distant Star” or “Shooting Stars.” Look at the night sky after.

Barbara Assiginaak

Assiginaak is an Anishinaabe composer from Manitoulin Island in Ontario. She has made music for voice and for the pipigwan, a wooden flute, since she was a child. She also trained in piano and composition. She has taught composition at Wilfrid Laurier University since 2021. She was named a Member of the Order of Canada in 2023.

Her piano pieces for students are named for birds and for times of day. “Niimi Aandeg” means “Crow Dances.” “Miimii” is the mourning dove. “Biidaaban” is the first light of dawn.

Play this first: “Niimi Aandeg (Crow Dances),” a Level 1 piano piece.

Christine Donkin

Donkin was born in northwest Alberta in 1976. She composes, and she has taught composition and theory at the Victoria Conservatory of Music. More than 100 of her pieces and arrangements for students are in the Royal Conservatory’s books.

Her titles tell a child what to listen for: “Crafty Card Tricks,” “Monster Trucks,” “Snow Falling in Lamplight,” and “Peace Country Hoedown.”

Play this first: “Crafty Card Tricks,” a Level 1 piano piece.

Canadian pieces in the RCM piano lists

The Royal Conservatory piano lists include Canadian music at every level. These pieces are in the Piano Syllabus, 2022 Edition.

Level	Pieces
1	Linda Niamath, “March of the Terrible Trolls.” Stephen Chatman, “Beaver Boogie.” Anne Crosby Gaudet, “Angelfish”
2	Nancy Telfer, “Crocodile Teeth.” Clifford Poole, “The Skating Carnival.” Pierre Gallant, “In a Canoe”
3	Alexina Louie, “Little Grey Bird.” Linda Niamath, “In My Kayak.” Susan Griesdale, “Arctic Voices”
4	Christine Donkin, “Snow Falling in Lamplight.” Barbara Pentland, “Aubade.” Boris Berlin, “Squirrels at Play”
5	Jean Coulthard, “Star Gazing.” Nancy Telfer, “When Rivers Flowed on Mars.” Vincent Ho, “Little Dragon”
6	Ann Southam, “Sea Flea.” Barbara Assiginaak, “Miimii (Mourning Dove).” David Duke, “Cape Breton Lullaby”
7	Christine Donkin, “Peace Country Hoedown.” Alexina Louie, “Shooting Stars.” Barbara Pentland, “Sparks”
8	Oscar Peterson, “The Gentle Waltz.” Alexina Louie, “O Moon.” Larysa Kuzmenko, “Mysterious Summer’s Night”
9	Oscar Peterson, “Laurentide Waltz.” Harry Somers, “Strangeness of Heart.” Heather Schmidt, “Serenity”
10	Oscar Peterson, “Land of the Misty Giants.” Heather Schmidt, “Shimmer.” Sophie-Carmen Eckhardt-Gramatté, Nocturne

For what each exam asks for, start with RCM Level 1 piano or read RCM levels explained.

Things to do together

• Sing “O Canada,” then say the composer’s name and the year, 1880
• Play “Hymn to Freedom” and ask what the music makes your child think of
• Find the places in the titles on a map: Place St. Henri, Cape Breton, and the Peace Country
• Pick one piece from your child’s level in the table and find a recording
• Ask your child’s piano teacher for one Canadian piece this year

Print and play

Fill in a composer study notebook page for one of the eight. Use a listening journal page for the first piece.

Next steps

Read American composers for kids and living composers kids can hear today. For the long story from 1600 to now, go to classical composers for kids, a guide by era.

Sources

Checked in November 2026.

• The Canadian Encyclopedia. “O Canada”.
• The Canadian Encyclopedia. Calixa Lavallée.
• The Canadian Encyclopedia. Oscar Peterson and Oscar Peterson, plain-language summary.
• Visit Mississauga. Oscar Peterson.
• The Canadian Encyclopedia. Alexina Louie.
• Wikipedia. Alexina Louie, for her diploma, Expo 86, and the Juno Awards.
• The Canadian Encyclopedia. Jean Coulthard.
• All Classical Radio. Canadian composers, for R. Nathaniel Dett and André Mathieu.
• National Arts Centre. Barbara Assiginaak.
• Wilfrid Laurier University. Laurier appoints Barbara Assiginaak.
• Wilfrid Laurier University. Barbara Assiginaak appointed to the Order of Canada.
• Cypress Choral Music. Christine Donkin.
• EduArts. Christine Donkin.
• Michelle Yelin Nam. Alexina Louie: Works for Young Pianists. Arizona State University.
• The Royal Conservatory. Piano Syllabus, 2022 Edition.