Helen Dahlstrom (nee Underbakke) was born in Regina, Saskatchewan of Norwegian-Canadian parents on 5 June 1917. She had two children with Alton Dalhstrom, Carol Boldt and Dr. David Dahlstrom. She is a pianist, organist, accompanist, music teacher, choir conductor, examiner and adjudicator. She received her teachers diploma in piano (ACTM) from the Toronto Conservatory of Music in 1930, her Solo performers diploma (RMT) in 1932 from the Toronto Conservatory of Music, and her Licentiate of Music diploma (LMUS) from the University of Saskatchewan in 1934. Her primary music education with Cyril Hampshire at the Regina Conservatory of Music from 1929 to 1935, was followed by a summer internship in 1935 with Stephen Balogh at the Cornish School in Seattle. In 1944 she moved to Winnipeg and took private lessons with Leonard Heaton until 1946 and from 1947 to 1949 with recitalist and teacher Boris Roubakine in Calgary. She started her career as a pianist at the age of 16 when she played the Schumann Concerto with the Regina Symphony Orchestra. In 1940, she was accompanist for John Goss on a tour of Western Canada and continued accompanying other intrumentalists in recitals including Elfreda Gleam and Reginald Kell. She was frequently heard as a soloist on radio stations; from 1940 to 1943 on CJRM, in Regina and from 1945 to 1947 on CBC Radio, in Winnipeg. In 1950, she moved to Rossland, British Columbia, where she served as organist-choirmaster for St. Andrews United Church. In 1964, she became conductor of the A Capella Singers of the Rossland Trail branch. She led this choir in various south east British Columbia centres for almost ten years. She has served on numerous boards for the furtherance of the arts both provincially, nationally, and internationally. Provincially, she was president of British Columbia Registered Music Teachers Association (BCRMTA) from 1970 to 1972, and member of the British Columbia Arts Board where she served as chairman of the Music Committee, as chairman of the Fine Arts Division of the Academic Council, as committee member of the Arts and Education Council, and as board member of the Touring Council. Nationally, she was a member of the Regional Committee for the Explorations program of the Canada Council between 1979 and 1980, board member of Canada Council, president of the Canadian Federation of Music Teachers Association (CFMTA) from 1971 to1975, national chairman of Canada Music Week (CMW) from 1969 until the mid 1990s, and member of the board of Governors of the Canadian Conference of the Arts from 1979 to 1983. Internationally, she was a member of the European Piano Teachers Association (EPTA), and board member of the International Society of Music Educators (ISME) for Canada. Since 1965, she has also adjudicated a number of festivals, examinations and competitions across North America; places include the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto from 1984 to1989; the Western Board of Music for the Universities of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba; Mount Royal College in Calgary; the international competition at Ann Arbor, Michigan in 1986; and the Young Keyboard Artists Association competition at Los Angeles, California in 1989. In 1989 she received the Home of Champions Award in recognition of her dedication, achievement and contribution to the Arts in the Home of Champions in Trail, British Columbia. She is listed in the Encyclopedia of Music in Canada (1992) and in Women of Notes: 1,000 women composers born before 1900 (1978). She compiled and edited Canada Music Week Silver Anniversary Collection (1985) and the Canadian Composers: mini biographies (1989) which is now part of the music syllabuses of the Royal Conservatory of Music of Toronto and of the Western Board of Music.
From the description of Helen Dahlstrom fonds. 1929-1999, predominant 1968-1999. (University of British Columbia Library). WorldCat record id: 606455660
