Alice Marian Robertson Wilson (August 20, 1926 – April 8, 2013) was an American cellist, linguist and teacher most notable role as music editor of the eight-volume ''

Coptic Encyclopedia The ''Coptic Encyclopedia'' is an eight-volume work covering the history, theology, language, art, architecture, archeology and hagiography of Coptic Egypt. The encyclopedia was written by over 250 Western and Egyptian contributing experts in th ...

''. She was a daughter of

Leroy Robertson Leroy Robertson (December 21, 1896 – July 25, 1971) was an American composer and music educator. Robertson was born in Fountain Green, Utah. One of his earliest instructors was Anthony C. Lund. He graduated from the New England Conservato ...

and has written scholarly analyses of his works.

Life and musical career

Robertson was born in

Morgan, Utah Morgan is a city in the U.S. state of Utah and the county seat of Morgan County. It is part of the Ogden-Clearfield metropolitan area. It is named after Jedediah Morgan Grant, a leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who s ...

, and initially studied piano. At age ten, when her younger sister was born, her father bought a half-size cello that was allegedly for the newborn Karen but her father urged her to play it until her sister became big enough. She joined the

Utah Symphony Orchestra The Utah Symphony is an American orchestra based in Salt Lake City, Utah. The orchestra's principal venue is Abravanel Hall. In addition to its Salt Lake City subscription concerts, the orchestra travels around the Intermountain West serving ...

in 1947. In 1950 she went to study in France on a Fulbright scholarship; that year her father wrote a cello composition for her to play. Marian Robertson married W. Keith Wilson, a retired Utah probation officer, in

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

in 1979. Their marriage was later solemnized in the

Salt Lake Temple The Salt Lake Temple is a Temple (LDS Church), temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At , it is the Comparison of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Sa ...

. He died in 1994. Wilson held two Ph.D.s, one in French and music and the other in Arabic. At least one of these Ph.D.s was from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. Over a 21-year period she taught a wide variety of courses including French, Greek, Italian, German, Music theory and cello at various times at

Brigham Young University Brigham Young University (BYU) is a Private education, private research university in Provo, Utah, United States. It was founded in 1875 by religious leader Brigham Young and is the flagship university of the Church Educational System sponsore ...

, the University of Utah and

Utah State University Utah State University (USU or Utah State) is a public university, public land grant colleges, land-grant research university with its main campus in Logan, Utah, United States. Founded in 1888 under the Morrill Land-Grant Acts as Utah's federal ...

. Besides being the music editor for the Coptic Encyclopedia, Wilson also created a guide to the Library of Congress's collection of Coptic music. Since 1971, she has been closely connected with the work of the Leroy Robertson foundation which awards scholarships to young composers to aid them in furthering their education. Wilson wrote a biography of her father entitled ''Leroy Robertson: Music Giant From the Rockies''. It received the

Association for Mormon Letters Association may refer to: *Club (organization), an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal *Trade association, an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry *Voluntary associatio ...

award for Best biography in 1997. Wilson died on Monday, April 8, 2013 in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Salt ...

References

Additional sources

* *
Neal A. Maxwell institute listing

Marian Robertson Wilson papers listing
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Marian Robertson 1926 births 2013 deaths People from Morgan, Utah American classical cellists American Latter Day Saints Linguists from the United States American women linguists American musicologists American women musicologists Brigham Young University faculty Coptologists University of Utah alumni University of Utah faculty Utah State University faculty American women classical cellists