Dorothea Anne Franchi was a New Zealand

New Zealand

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...

 pianist, harpist, music educator and composer. She was born in Auckland

Auckland

The Auckland metropolitan area , in the North Island of New Zealand, is the largest and most populous urban area in the country with residents, percent of the country's population. Auckland also has the largest Polynesian population of any city in the world...

, New Zealand, the daughter of Peter Rudolph Franchi, and studied at the University of Auckland and the Royal College of Music

Royal College of Music

The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire founded by Royal Charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, England.-Background:The first director was Sir George Grove and he was followed by Sir Hubert Parry...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. In 1953 she took the position of musical director and pianist for the newly formed New Zealand Ballet Company, working with Paul Gnatt. She had a successful career as a pianist and harpist, and her works are performed internationally.

Honors and awards

• Lionel Tertis Prize for Viola Rhapsody, 1950
• Philip Neill Memorial Prize, 1947
• The KBB Citation for Services to New Zealand Music, 2000

Works

Franchi composed for orchestra, chamber ensmeble, voice and instrumental performance. Selected works include:

• A Man of Life Upright for bass and piano
• A Wet Night in Greymouth for voice and piano
• Abel Tasman for voice, piccolo, piano and drum
• Apple-Picking Time for voice and piano
• Concertino for harmonica, harp and strings
• Do-Wack-A-Do orchestral suite from the ballet of the same name
• El Bailador Inamorado song cycle for tenor and piano
• Eventide for tenor, string quartet and piano
• Four Pioneer Portraits cycle of four songs for mezzo-soprano and piano
• God Bless You Boy for voice and piano