A. Cyril Graham papers

A. Cyril Graham was born 24 August 1878 in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, he relocated to Chicago with his mother. His interest in music started at a young age; by the time he was twelve, Graham was organist at St. Paul's Episcopal Church in Riverside, Illinois. He graduated from Northwestern University School of Music where he studied organ and theoretical subjects under the tutelage of Dean Peter C. Lutkin. He then spent three years in post-graduate work at the American Conservatory of Music studying piano under Gertrude H. Murdough and composition with Adolf Weidig. While at the American Conservatory of Music, Graham met his wife, Helen M. Jordan, also an accomplished pianist. The couple was married in 1908 and had two sons, Richard C. and John Douglas Graham.

A. Cyril Graham worked for twelve years as head of the theory department and teacher of organ and piano at the Columbia School of Music and in 1921, Graham assumed the position of Head of the Organ and Theoretical Departments at the Conservatory of Music at Augustana College. Graham stayed at the Conservatory until 1932, when he retired. He had a variety of responsibilities at the conservatory including serving as dean from 1924 to 1927 and directing the Handel Oratorio Society from 1922 to 1930.

Graham was also an accomplished composer. Notable works by Grahm include a cantata, The Pied Piper of Hamelin, which was written for the Chicago North Shore Festival, and The Poet and The Dryad, written for the MacDowell festival at Peterborough, New Hampshire.

Graham died in 1953 at the age of 74 in Rock Island, Illinois.