Eric McLean

Eric McLean, born on September twenty-fifth, nineteen nineteen, was a distinguished Canadian pianist, music critic, and historian whose career spanned an impressive sixty years. He made significant contributions to the music scene, particularly as the music critic for the Montreal Gazette from nineteen seventy-nine to nineteen eighty-eight, where he later retired as critic emeritus.

In April two thousand three, McLean's extensive personal papers were donated to the Marvin Duchow Music Library at McGill University. This donation led to the creation of the Eric McLean Collection, a rich multimedia assemblage that includes texts, photographs, recorded interviews, musical scores, musicological monographs, and an LP record collection boasting over seven thousand items.

Among the treasures in the collection is a concert diary inherited from Hugh Poynter Bell, a former music and art critic for the Montreal Star. This diary provides a fascinating glimpse into Montreal's concert life from nineteen twenty-three to nineteen forty-nine, showcasing the city's pivotal role as a major North American musical center during the first half of the twentieth century.