CALVERLEY, Amice

Amice Mary Calverley was an English-born Canadian composer, musician, artist and Egyptologist. Born in London in 1896 and later settled in Canada, she first developed her career through music before becoming internationally known for her archaeological work in Egypt. She studied music in Toronto and later won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London, where she worked with Ralph Vaughan Williams.

Although her reputation eventually became more closely associated with Egyptology, Calverley continued to compose during the 1920s and 1930s. Her music includes orchestral and chamber works, among them Variations on a Harmonic Theme for orchestra and a String Quartet in F minor. These works show her connection with the British-Canadian classical tradition of the early twentieth century and place her among the women composers whose musical activity has only recently begun to be recovered.
Calverley’s career was unusually wide-ranging. Alongside composition, she became a distinguished archaeological artist and was central to the recording and publication of the decorations of the Temple of Seti I at Abydos. Her life therefore connects music, visual art, scholarship and documentation, making her a distinctive figure in Canadian and British cultural history.