Dr. Jean Coulthard was born in Vancouver, in 1908; she wrote her first compositions under the supervision of her mother. Her early professional training was at the Royal College of Music in London, where her teachers included R. O. Morris and Ralph Vaughan Williams. In the 1930s and early 40s she had assessment critiques from Schoenberg, Milhaud and Bartók as well as further studies with Bernard Wagenaar in New York.

Throughout the 1950s and 60s Coulthard forged her own tonally-based musical idiom and laid the foundations of her extensive repertoire, which encompasses over 350 works in virtually all musical genres. During these years Coulthard also maintained her "parallel career" as a lecturer at the University of British Columbia.

With her retirement from UBC in 1973 her musical activity as a composer continued with renewed vigour. In 1978 she was named a Freeman of the City of Vancouver and an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 1984 she was declared "composer of the year" by PRO Canada; in the spring of 1988, she received an honourary doctorate from UBC.

Cello Music (In Remembrance of Mstislav Rostropovich - Live Recordings from the Cello Festival 2007)

MARTINU: Chamber Music