Ernest Llewellyn
Encyclopedia
Ernest Victor Llewellyn CBE (21 June 191512 July 1982) was an Australia
n violin
ist, concertmaster
, violist
, conductor and musical administrator. He was the founding director of the Canberra School of Music
and he is commemorated in the concert venue there, Llewellyn Hall.
in 1915. He was educated at Kurri Kurri State School, Maitland
High School, and, for six months, at the NSW Conservatorium of Music
in Sydney
. In 1933 the 17-year old Llewellyn gave a ‘grand farewell violin recital’ at the West Maitland Town Hall. It was later decided that the money raised by the concert and by public appeal should be given to those suffering in the Great Depression. In 1934 he commenced studies with Jascha Gopinko.
From 1934 to 1937 he was the violist in the Sydney String Quartet and the leader of the viola section of the ABC
Sydney Orchestra. In 1936 he appeared as a solo violinist under the baton of Sir Malcolm Sargent
. He was offered the position of deputy leader of the Scottish Orchestra
, but turned it down.
That year he married Ruth Smith, daughter of the violin and viola maker A.E. Smith
, whose wedding gift was a violin of his own making. In 1940 he moved to Melbourne
to become Deputy Leader of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
. He also taught at the University of Melbourne
, and was the leader of the Melbourne University String Quartet. He served his country between 1942 and 1944 in the Royal Australian Air Force
.
From 1944 to 1948 he was leader of the Queensland
State String Quartet (QSSQ), taking them on a tour of New Zealand
in 1948 at the invitation of the Wellington Chamber Music Society. Reviews of the tour led to the establishment of the New Zealand Federation of Chamber Music Clubs. In 1947, Isaac Stern
visited Australia for the first time. He attended a performance by the QSSQ, was struck by the tonal qualities of the violin being played by Llewellyn, so he went backstage and met him, and learned about A.E. Smith for the first time. The next morning they played together after swapping instruments. They became lifelong friends.
In 1949 Ernest Llewellyn and Hephzibah Menuhin
(then married to an Australian and living in western Victoria) presented the complete violin sonatas of Beethoven
in a series of recitals in the eastern states of Australia.
in 1949, and Assistant Conductor in 1959. From 1949 to 1955 he was the leader of the ABC String Quartet. In 1952 he again toured New Zealand, this time as part of the Llewellyn-Kennedy Piano Trio (with John Kennedy
, cello, and Scylla Kennedy, piano; they were the parents of Nigel Kennedy
, although they never married).
When Isaac Stern toured Australia again in 1954, he and Llewellyn played Bach's Double Concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The pianist William Kapell
had recently been killed in a plane crash while returning from his Australian tour, and Stern set up the William Kapell Memorial Fund to bring notable musicians to the US for wider experience. Stern gave a concert in Sydney in July 1954 for the William Kapell Memorial Fund, and ensured that Ernest Llewellyn was the inaugural recipient. At the same time he was awarded a Fulbright grant
to study teaching methods in the US, the UK and Europe for 15 months. He spent most of his time studying with Isaac Stern at the Juilliard School
in New York
.
In the 1950s Ernest Llewellyn inaugurated and directed music camps and festivals for the National Music Camp Association and for Musica Viva Australia
at Mittagong
. He also directed workshops through Musica Viva and the Musica Viva Younger Group.
, Goulburn
, Mittagong and Canberra
, and to establish regional orchestras. A year later, in September 1965, at the invitation of the Department of the Interior, he became founding director of the Canberra School of Music
, immediately appointing some of the finest performers in the country to the staff, including Larry Sitsky
(keyboard), Vincent Edwards (strings) and Murray Khouri (woodwind). During his time as Director he continued to perform, taking part in many of the School's faculty concerts, leading the Canberra String Quartet, and in 1966 becoming musical director and conductor of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra
, a semi-professional full symphony orchestra that was formed out of the amateur Canberra Orchestral Society by joining its forces with staff and students from the School of Music. Between 1969 and 1979, the Canberra Symphony's annual program under Llewellyn featured masterworks of the choral repertoire (including Orff
's Carmina Burana
, Elgar
's The Dream of Gerontius
, Beethoven
's Choral Symphony
and the Verdi
Requiem
) performed with a combined choir known as the Singers of Canberra, made up of the leading choral organisations in the city: the Canberra Choral Society
, ANU Choral Society, Canberra Philharmonic and Canberra Society of Singers.
The Canberra School of Music operated until 1976 in temporary premises that were previously the Manuka Mothercraft Centre. In 1976 he was given approval to proceed with his plans for a permanent School of Music in Canberra. He based his conception of the School as a centre of excellence on the Juillard School, and he regarded Isaac Stern as the "father" of the school. He envisioned one that would not only be a centre of creativity and performance but also be the home of a world-class concert venue. Stern inspected the school in its early stages while on his last concert tour of Australia in the early 1970s. Llewellyn had insisted from the outset that the building should be located on a site that was both central to the Australian National University
and the city centre, easily accessible for both students and patrons. Together with the Melbourne architect Daryl Jackson
, Llewellyn produced a final plan that was architecturally innovative and original, and which ensured that the building would continue to be recognised historically as a unique piece of architecture. The concert hall has indeed become world-class, and was named Llewellyn Hall in 1980 on his retirement as Director of the School of Music.
Llewellyn was invited to attend the fifth International Tchaikovsky Competition
in Moscow as an ‘honoured guest’ in 1974, and in 1978 he became the first Australian to serve on a jury in the Tchaikovsky competition. In 1979 and 1980 he visited China
to advise on teaching methods. The 1979 visit was at the invitation of the String Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music
to advise on teaching methods and give master classes in Beijing
and Shanghai. The second visit was arranged under the Cultural Relations program.
to conduct the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra
and to advise on the establishment of a Conservatorium there, but he died on 12 July 1982, in Sydney. He was survived by his wife Ruth Llewellyn and his sons Daffyd and Richard.
Later that month the retiring Governor-General
Sir Zelman Cowen
announced that the proceeds of his farewell concert would be devoted to the Ernest Llewellyn Memorial Scholarship, to help young musicians and the advancement of string playing in Australia. In 1985, Isaac Stern made a special trip to Australia to give a benefit concert at the Sydney Opera House
in tribute to Llewellyn, with the proceeds (nearly $80,000) going to the Llewellyn Scholarship. This put the scholarship on a firm financial footing, and the first awards were made in 1987.
Llewellyn was a member of the Board of Governors of the Frensham School
in Mittagong. He was involved with the ABC for much of his working life, leading the ABC String Quartet (1949–52), appearing as soloist or concertmaster in many ABC concerts and broadcasts, conducting the ABC School Orchestral concerts, as an adjudicator for the ABC Concerto and Vocal competitions and as a member of the Canberra Advisory Committee of the ABC.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
ist, concertmaster
Concertmaster
The concertmaster/mistress is the spalla or leader, of the first violin section of an orchestra. In the UK, the term commonly used is leader...
, violist
Viola
The viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, conductor and musical administrator. He was the founding director of the Canberra School of Music
ANU School of Music
The School of Music is a school within the Faculty of Arts of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of Music building - which contains Llewellyn Hall - and the Peter Karmel Building....
and he is commemorated in the concert venue there, Llewellyn Hall.
Early career
Ernest Llewellyn was born in Kurri Kurri, New South WalesKurri Kurri, New South Wales
Kurri Kurri is a small town in the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, in the Cessnock LGA. At the 2006 census its population was 5,644...
in 1915. He was educated at Kurri Kurri State School, Maitland
Maitland
Maitland is an English and Scottish surname. It arrived in Britain after the Norman conquest of 1066. There are two theories about its source. It is either a nickname reference to "bad temper/disposition" , or it may be a locational reference to Mautalant, a place in Pontorson, France...
High School, and, for six months, at the NSW Conservatorium of Music
Sydney Conservatorium of Music
The Sydney Conservatorium of Music is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia...
in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
. In 1933 the 17-year old Llewellyn gave a ‘grand farewell violin recital’ at the West Maitland Town Hall. It was later decided that the money raised by the concert and by public appeal should be given to those suffering in the Great Depression. In 1934 he commenced studies with Jascha Gopinko.
From 1934 to 1937 he was the violist in the Sydney String Quartet and the leader of the viola section of the ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
Sydney Orchestra. In 1936 he appeared as a solo violinist under the baton of Sir Malcolm Sargent
Malcolm Sargent
Sir Harold Malcolm Watts Sargent was an English conductor, organist and composer widely regarded as Britain's leading conductor of choral works...
. He was offered the position of deputy leader of the Scottish Orchestra
Royal Scottish National Orchestra
The Royal Scottish National Orchestra is Scotland's national symphony orchestra. Based in Glasgow, the 89-member professional orchestra also regularly performs in Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee, and abroad. Formed in 1891 as the Scottish Orchestra, the company has performed full-time since 1950,...
, but turned it down.
That year he married Ruth Smith, daughter of the violin and viola maker A.E. Smith
A. E. Smith (violin maker)
Arthur Edward Smith MBE, known as A. E. Smith was an English-born Australian violin and viola maker of world renown. His violins and violas are prized for their excellence of tone and decorative elements such as the sound holes, scrolls and curves...
, whose wedding gift was a violin of his own making. In 1940 he moved to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
to become Deputy Leader of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Melbourne, Australia. It has 100 permanent musicians. Melbourne has the longest continuous history of orchestral music of any Australian city and the MSO is the oldest professional orchestra in Australia...
. He also taught at the University of Melbourne
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...
, and was the leader of the Melbourne University String Quartet. He served his country between 1942 and 1944 in the Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...
.
From 1944 to 1948 he was leader of the Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
State String Quartet (QSSQ), taking them on a tour of 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...
in 1948 at the invitation of the Wellington Chamber Music Society. Reviews of the tour led to the establishment of the New Zealand Federation of Chamber Music Clubs. In 1947, Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern
Isaac Stern was a Ukrainian-born violinist. He was renowned for his recordings and for discovering new musical talent.-Biography:Isaac Stern was born into a Jewish family in Kremenets, Ukraine. He was fourteen months old when his family moved to San Francisco...
visited Australia for the first time. He attended a performance by the QSSQ, was struck by the tonal qualities of the violin being played by Llewellyn, so he went backstage and met him, and learned about A.E. Smith for the first time. The next morning they played together after swapping instruments. They became lifelong friends.
In 1949 Ernest Llewellyn and Hephzibah Menuhin
Hephzibah Menuhin
Hephzibah Menuhin was an American-Australian pianist and human rights campaigner. She was sister to the violinist Lord Menuhin and to the pianist, painter, and poet Yaltah Menuhin...
(then married to an Australian and living in western Victoria) presented the complete violin sonatas of Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
in a series of recitals in the eastern states of Australia.
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Llewellyn was appointed Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony OrchestraSydney Symphony Orchestra
The Sydney Symphony Orchestra , commonly known as the Sydney Symphony, is an Australian symphony orchestra based in Sydney...
in 1949, and Assistant Conductor in 1959. From 1949 to 1955 he was the leader of the ABC String Quartet. In 1952 he again toured New Zealand, this time as part of the Llewellyn-Kennedy Piano Trio (with John Kennedy
John Kennedy (cellist)
John Kennedy was a noted British cellist who had significant associations with Australia, where he worked in the latter part of his life and where he died. He was the natural father of the violinist Nigel Kennedy....
, cello, and Scylla Kennedy, piano; they were the parents of Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy
Nigel Kennedy is a British born violinist and violist. He made his early career in the classical field, and he has performed and recorded most of the major violin concerti...
, although they never married).
When Isaac Stern toured Australia again in 1954, he and Llewellyn played Bach's Double Concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The pianist William Kapell
William Kapell
William Kapell was an outstanding American pianist who was killed in the crash of a commercial airliner.-Biography:...
had recently been killed in a plane crash while returning from his Australian tour, and Stern set up the William Kapell Memorial Fund to bring notable musicians to the US for wider experience. Stern gave a concert in Sydney in July 1954 for the William Kapell Memorial Fund, and ensured that Ernest Llewellyn was the inaugural recipient. At the same time he was awarded a Fulbright grant
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright-Hays Program, is a program of competitive, merit-based grants for international educational exchange for students, scholars, teachers, professionals, scientists and artists, founded by United States Senator J. William Fulbright in 1946. Under the...
to study teaching methods in the US, the UK and Europe for 15 months. He spent most of his time studying with Isaac Stern at the Juilliard School
Juilliard School
The Juilliard School, located at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, United States, is a performing arts conservatory which was established in 1905...
in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
.
In the 1950s Ernest Llewellyn inaugurated and directed music camps and festivals for the National Music Camp Association and for Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia
Musica Viva Australia is the oldest independent performing arts organisation in Australia and the world's largest entrepreneur of chamber music. It was formed in 1945 in Sydney by violist Richard Goldner...
at Mittagong
Mittagong, New South Wales
Mittagong is a town located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. At the 2006 census, Mittagong had a population of 7,460 people. The town can be seen as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. The town is close to Bowral, Berrima,...
. He also directed workshops through Musica Viva and the Musica Viva Younger Group.
Canberra School of Music
He resigned from the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1964 to devote his time to full-time teaching. He intended to teach privately in WollongongWollongong, New South Wales
Wollongong is a seaside city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. It lies on the narrow coastal strip between the Illawarra Escarpment and the Pacific Ocean, 82 kilometres south of Sydney...
, Goulburn
Goulburn, New South Wales
Goulburn is a provincial city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia in Goulburn Mulwaree Council Local Government Area. It is located south-west of Sydney on the Hume Highway and above sea-level. On Census night 2006, Goulburn had a population of 20,127 people...
, Mittagong and Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
, and to establish regional orchestras. A year later, in September 1965, at the invitation of the Department of the Interior, he became founding director of the Canberra School of Music
ANU School of Music
The School of Music is a school within the Faculty of Arts of the Australian National University. It consists of four buildings, including the main School of Music building - which contains Llewellyn Hall - and the Peter Karmel Building....
, immediately appointing some of the finest performers in the country to the staff, including Larry Sitsky
Larry Sitsky
Lazar Sitsky AM, usually referred to as Larry Sitsky, born 10 September 1934, is an Australian composer, pianist, and music educator and scholar...
(keyboard), Vincent Edwards (strings) and Murray Khouri (woodwind). During his time as Director he continued to perform, taking part in many of the School's faculty concerts, leading the Canberra String Quartet, and in 1966 becoming musical director and conductor of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra
Canberra Symphony Orchestra
Canberra Symphony Orchestra is the principal professional orchestra of the Australian Capital Territory based in Canberra, the national capital of Australia....
, a semi-professional full symphony orchestra that was formed out of the amateur Canberra Orchestral Society by joining its forces with staff and students from the School of Music. Between 1969 and 1979, the Canberra Symphony's annual program under Llewellyn featured masterworks of the choral repertoire (including Orff
Carl Orff
Carl Orff was a 20th-century German composer, best known for his cantata Carmina Burana . In addition to his career as a composer, Orff developed an influential method of music education for children.-Early life:...
's Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana
Carmina Burana , Latin for "Songs from Beuern" , is the name given to a manuscript of 254 poems and dramatic texts mostly from the 11th or 12th century, although some are from the 13th century. The pieces were written principally in Medieval Latin; a few in Middle High German, and some with traces...
, Elgar
Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet OM, GCVO was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestral works including the Enigma Variations, the Pomp and Circumstance Marches, concertos...
's The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius
The Dream of Gerontius, popularly called just Gerontius, is a work for voices and orchestra in two parts composed by Edward Elgar in 1900, to text from the poem by John Henry Newman. It relates the journey of a pious man's soul from his deathbed to his judgment before God and settling into Purgatory...
, Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
's Choral Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Beethoven)
The Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125, is the final complete symphony of Ludwig van Beethoven. Completed in 1824, the symphony is one of the best known works of the Western classical repertoire, and has been adapted for use as the European Anthem...
and the Verdi
Giuseppe Verdi
Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century...
Requiem
Requiem (Verdi)
The Messa da Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi is a musical setting of the Roman Catholic funeral mass for four soloists, double choir and orchestra. It was composed in memory of Alessandro Manzoni, an Italian poet and novelist much admired by Verdi. The first performance in San Marco in Milan on 22 May...
) performed with a combined choir known as the Singers of Canberra, made up of the leading choral organisations in the city: the Canberra Choral Society
Canberra Choral Society
The Canberra Choral Society is a symphonic choir in Canberra, the capital city of Australia. It performs regularly with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra...
, ANU Choral Society, Canberra Philharmonic and Canberra Society of Singers.
The Canberra School of Music operated until 1976 in temporary premises that were previously the Manuka Mothercraft Centre. In 1976 he was given approval to proceed with his plans for a permanent School of Music in Canberra. He based his conception of the School as a centre of excellence on the Juillard School, and he regarded Isaac Stern as the "father" of the school. He envisioned one that would not only be a centre of creativity and performance but also be the home of a world-class concert venue. Stern inspected the school in its early stages while on his last concert tour of Australia in the early 1970s. Llewellyn had insisted from the outset that the building should be located on a site that was both central to the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
and the city centre, easily accessible for both students and patrons. Together with the Melbourne architect Daryl Jackson
Daryl Jackson
Daryl Sanders Jackson AO is an Australian architect, and the owner of an international architecture firm, Jackson Architecture...
, Llewellyn produced a final plan that was architecturally innovative and original, and which ensured that the building would continue to be recognised historically as a unique piece of architecture. The concert hall has indeed become world-class, and was named Llewellyn Hall in 1980 on his retirement as Director of the School of Music.
Llewellyn was invited to attend the fifth International Tchaikovsky Competition
International Tchaikovsky Competition
The International Tchaikovsky Competition is a classical music competition held every four years in Moscow, Russia for pianists, violinists, and cellists between 16 and 30 years of age, and singers between 19 and 32 years of age...
in Moscow as an ‘honoured guest’ in 1974, and in 1978 he became the first Australian to serve on a jury in the Tchaikovsky competition. In 1979 and 1980 he visited China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
to advise on teaching methods. The 1979 visit was at the invitation of the String Department of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music
Shanghai Conservatory of Music
The Shanghai Conservatory of Music , as the first music institution of higher education in China, was founded on November 27, 1927. The teachers and students have won numerous awards both home and abroad, thus earning the conservatory the name, “the cradle of musicians”.-History:The Shanghai...
to advise on teaching methods and give master classes in Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
and Shanghai. The second visit was arranged under the Cultural Relations program.
Retirement
He retired as Director of the Canberra School of Music and as conductor of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra in 1980. In 1981-82 he established the Wollongong Branch of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Plans were in hand for a third visit to China and an exchange visit to OttawaOttawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
to conduct the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra
Ottawa Symphony Orchestra
The Ottawa Symphony Orchestra is a full size orchestra in Ottawa including professional, student and amateur musicians. With around 100 musicians, the OSO is Ottawa's largest orchestra, which allows it to perform large symphonic repertoire of the 19th and 20th centuries, including works by...
and to advise on the establishment of a Conservatorium there, but he died on 12 July 1982, in Sydney. He was survived by his wife Ruth Llewellyn and his sons Daffyd and Richard.
Later that month the retiring Governor-General
Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia at federal/national level of the Australian monarch . He or she exercises the supreme executive power of the Commonwealth...
Sir Zelman Cowen
Zelman Cowen
Sir Zelman Cowen, was the 19th Governor-General of Australia. He is currently the oldest living former Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:...
announced that the proceeds of his farewell concert would be devoted to the Ernest Llewellyn Memorial Scholarship, to help young musicians and the advancement of string playing in Australia. In 1985, Isaac Stern made a special trip to Australia to give a benefit concert at the Sydney Opera House
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in the Australian city of Sydney. It was conceived and largely built by Danish architect Jørn Utzon, finally opening in 1973 after a long gestation starting with his competition-winning design in 1957...
in tribute to Llewellyn, with the proceeds (nearly $80,000) going to the Llewellyn Scholarship. This put the scholarship on a firm financial footing, and the first awards were made in 1987.
Llewellyn was a member of the Board of Governors of the Frensham School
Frensham School
Frensham School is an independent, non-denominational, secondary, day and boarding school for girls, located at Mittagong, south of Sydney, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia....
in Mittagong. He was involved with the ABC for much of his working life, leading the ABC String Quartet (1949–52), appearing as soloist or concertmaster in many ABC concerts and broadcasts, conducting the ABC School Orchestral concerts, as an adjudicator for the ABC Concerto and Vocal competitions and as a member of the Canberra Advisory Committee of the ABC.
Honours and commemorations
- 1968 Appointed a Member of the Order of the British EmpireOrder of the British EmpireThe Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(MBE) for services to music as Director of the Canberra School of Music - 1970 Raised to Commander level (CBE) within the same order.
- Ernest Llewellyn is commemorated in:
- the Ernest Llewellyn Memorial Scholarship
- the Llewellyn Hall at the Canberra School of Music; and
- the Llewellyn Choir in Canberra.
- He was inducted into the CessnockCessnockCessnock can refer to:*Cessnock, New South Wales** Electoral district of Cessnock, an electoral district in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly, based around the area** City of Cessnock, the Local Government Area...
Hall of Fame on 6 December 2006.