Beverly Glenn-Copeland (born January 1944) is an American-born Canadian singer-songwriter. His albums include '' Keyboard Fantasies'' (1986). Glenn-Copeland began publicly identifying as a

trans man A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identi ...

in 2002.

Early life

Glenn-Copeland was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Pennsylvania to a musical family. As a child, Glenn-Copeland listened to his father play the music of

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety of instruments and forms, including the or ...

, Chopin, and

Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

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 McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Musical career

Glenn-Copeland started his career as a folk singer incorporating jazz, classical, and blues elements. He also performed on albums by Ken Friesen,

Bruce Cockburn Bruce Douglas Cockburn ( ; born May 27, 1945) is a Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist. His song styles range from folk to folk- and jazz-influenced rock to soundscapes accompanying spoken stories. His lyrics reflect interests in spirit ...

, Gene Murtynec, Bob Disalle, and Kathryn Moses, and was a writer on ''

Sesame Street ''Sesame Street'' is an American educational television, educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation, and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Worksh ...

''. He spent twenty-five years entertaining children as a regular actor on Canadian children's television show '' Mr. Dressup''. Glenn-Copeland's 1986 electronic album '' Keyboard Fantasies'', recorded using equipment including a

Yamaha DX7 The Yamaha DX7 is a synthesizer manufactured by Yamaha Corporation from 1983 to 1989. It was the first successful digital synthesizer and is one of the best-selling synthesizers in history, selling more than 200,000 units. In the early 1980s, th ...

and a Roland TR-707, and other recordings were rediscovered and promoted by Japanese record collector Ryota Masuko in 2015. Before Glenn-Copeland's

gender transition Gender transition is the process of affirming and expressing one's internal sense of gender, rather than the sex assigned to them at birth. It is a recommended course of treatment for individuals experiencing gender dysphoria, providing impro ...

was made public, ''Keyboard Fantasies'' was selected as one of the 70 greatest recordings by women by '' The Stranger''. The album was named as the public vote winner of the Polaris Heritage Prize at the

2020 Polaris Music Prize The 2020 edition of the Canada, Canadian Polaris Music Prize was presented on October 19, 2020. The longlist was announced on June 15, 2020, with the shortlist following on July 15, 2020 and the winner announced on October 19, 2020. Due to the CO ...

. ''Keyboard Fantasies'' was remastered and reissued in February 2017 as ''Copeland Keyboard Fantasies'' by Invisible City Editions 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). '' Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story'', a documentary directed by Posy Dixon, was released in 2019. Planned 2020 international tours to Australia, the United Kingdom, and other European destinations were rescheduled to 2021 due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. 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. In the same year, Glenn-Copeland created a prerecorded video performance of his song "Courage" for Buddies in Bad Times and

CBC Gem CBC Television (also known as CBC TV, or simply CBC) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English-language terrestrial television, broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcasting, p ...

's online '' Queer Pride Inside'' show. His 2023 album '' The Ones Ahead'' was a longlisted nominee for the 2024 Polaris Music Prize. In 2024 Glenn was awarded an honorary doctorate from

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public university, public research university whose main campus is located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park (Toronto), Queen's Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded by ...

, 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 Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organization founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai. It is run by two vice-presidents, including Hiromasa Ikeda, son of the founder. It c ...

meeting and has been a practicing Buddhist since the mid-1970s. In September 2024, Glenn-Copeland shared that he has been diagnosed with

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

Discography

Studio albums

*''Beverly Copeland'' (1970) *''Beverly Glenn-Copeland'' (1971) *''At Last!'' (1980) *'' Keyboard Fantasies'' (1986) **''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) *''Transmissions: The Music of Beverly Glenn-Copeland'' (compilation, Transgressive, 2020) *''Keyboard Fantasies Reimagined'' (Transgressive, 2021) – ''Keyboard Fantasies'' tracks remixed/reworked by

Bon Iver Bon Iver ( ) is an American indie folk band founded in 2006 by singer-songwriter Justin Vernon in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Vernon had originally formed Bon Iver as a solo project, but it eventually became a band consisting of Vernon (vocals, guit ...

and Flock Of Dimes, and by Joseph Shabason and Thom Gill; remixed by Julia Holter, Arca, Ana Roxanne, Kelsey Lu, and

Blood Orange The blood orange is a variety of orange (fruit), orange with crimson, near blood-colored flesh. It is one of the sweet orange varieties (Citrus × sinensis, ''Citrus'' × ''sinensis''). It is also known as the raspberry orange. The dark flesh ...

; and performed by

Jeremy Dutcher Jeremy Dutcher is a classically trained Canadian Indigenous tenor, composer, musicologist, performer and activist, who previously lived in Toronto, Ontario and currently lives in Montréal, Québec. He became widely known for his first album '' W ...

*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 Devendra Obi Banhart (born May 30, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and visual artist. Banhart was born in Texas and raised in Venezuela and California. In 2000, he dropped out of the San Francisco Art Institute to pursue a musical career. ...

called "You Don't Know Me."

Films

*'' Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story'' (2019) – documentary directed by Posy Dixon *See You Tomorrow (forthcoming 2025) - documentary by Samantha Curley and Chase Joynt

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Glenn-Copeland, Beverly Living people American emigrants to Canada Canadian male singer-songwriters Canadian transgender men Canadian transgender musicians Canadian LGBTQ singer-songwriters Singers from Philadelphia New-age musicians Transgender male musicians Transgender singer-songwriters American feminist musicians Black Canadian LGBTQ people Canadian Buddhists American Nichiren Buddhists African-American LGBTQ people American male singer-songwriters American transgender men American transgender musicians American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters LGBTQ people from Pennsylvania 1944 births 21st-century Canadian LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people African-American Buddhists Members of Sōka Gakkai