Maureen Lehane
Encyclopedia
Maureen Theresa Lehane Wishart (born September 18, 1932, London; died December 27, 2010, Great Elm
) was an English Mezzo-soprano singer, university lecturer and founder of the Great Elm Music Festival, Jackdaws Music Education Trust and an annual Vocal Award for young singers. She was known for her recordings and performances of Handel
's operas.
She was married to the English composer Peter Wishart
. They lived in Great Elm
near Frome
, Somerset
.
. They returned to London after the war, moving to Barnet.
Lehane married Peter Wishart on 26 May 1966. They lived and worked together until his death in 1984. Together they edited 3 volumes of Purcell song realisations and she recorded a CD of his songs with pianist Alexander Kelly (BMS 409).
. She is reported to have had a reciprocated dislike for the choir director there who refused to allow her into the choir on the grounds that she did not have a voice. Later in life she gave a recital at the school and saw the teacher in the front row.
Lehane's music tuition began with private lessons from Gordon Clinton, who also taught her father, in the Dinely Music Studios on Oxford Street. From here she was given theatrical parts with productions by the amateur Risley Operatic Group, including the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan
's Iolanthe
in 1952, produced by her father.
After secondary school, Lehane began a course in Textile Design at Hornsey School of Art. She did not finish the couse and instead went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
on a scholarship. There she entered in the inaugural Kathleen Ferrier Award
in 1956. With an Arts Council award and at the advice of Baritone and conductor Dietrich Fischer Dieskau, she went to study in Berlin although this was not a success and she returned to England. At the age of 26, her mother submitted her name to John and Aida Dickens (Joan Sutherland's teachers) who awarded Maureen a scholarship of seven years free tuition.
's production of Ariodante in 1974, Glyndebourne Festival, Royal Festival Hall
in 1970, and at Carnegie Hall
in 1966 in Handel's Xerxes. She sang across the UK, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Sweden and the US; In 1971 she went on a five month tour of Australia, the Orient and the middle East. Her repertoire stretched from early composers such as Montiverdi, Handel and Bach, through Brahms and Wagner to Honegger, Britten and Skalkottas.
Maureen never felt at home in large performances. She performed several times at the BBC Proms in productions of Janacek's Glagolitic Mass and Stravinsky's Les Noces.
Lehane was mostly at home in Handel opera and oratorios; over the span of her career she was involved in over 100 productions of Handel's Messiah
, 50 Bach Cantatas and 40 St Matthew Passions.
Towards the end of her life she gave up performing, though many recordings still remain.
, at which they performed and had picnics. Following Peter's death, Lehane felt her heart had left this tradition, but the students at Reading were keen to continue. They expanded this practice and in 1986 the students performed Handel's Water Music
by the Mells river. The event became the 'Great Elm Music Festival' held in memory of Peter. The first full festival was held in June 1987. Festivals were run every year for 12 years.
At its height, it was a Summer music festival spanning three weekends with 21 fully professional events held at local venues including Maureen's house, neighbouring houses and a church.
The winners of the 2011 Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards were:
1st place: Marta Fontanals-Simmons
2nd place: Andri Bjorn Robertsson
3rd place: Ben McAteer
Accompanist Prize: Timothy End
Audience Prize: Andri Bjorn Robertsson
On the 21st October 2011, the Jackdaws Music Education Trust combined the 'Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards 2011' with a Celebration Gala Concert to form a day of events commemorating her life and work, titled We are the Music Makers.
It began with the final of the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards at the Wigmore Hall in the afternoon, at which the winner was decided, along with the presentation of the Accompanist prize for best accompanist and the Audience prize for the singer the audience thought deserved to win (decided by ballot).
Maureen's house in Great Elm is currently for sale. Money from the proceeds is expected to go towards the future of Jackdaws.
Great Elm
Great Elm is a village and civil parish between Mells and Frome in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Hapsford.-History:...
) was an English Mezzo-soprano singer, university lecturer and founder of the Great Elm Music Festival, Jackdaws Music Education Trust and an annual Vocal Award for young singers. She was known for her recordings and performances of Handel
HANDEL
HANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's operas.
She was married to the English composer Peter Wishart
Peter Wishart (composer)
Peter Charles Arthur Wishart was an English composer. Wishart was born in Crowborough. He studied with Nadia Boulanger in Paris from 1947-1948 and taught at the Guildhall School of Music, Birmingham University, King's College London and Reading University where he was Professor of Music from 1977...
. They lived in Great Elm
Great Elm
Great Elm is a village and civil parish between Mells and Frome in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Hapsford.-History:...
near Frome
Frome
Frome is a town and civil parish in northeast Somerset, England. Located at the eastern end of the Mendip Hills, the town is built on uneven high ground, and centres around the River Frome. The town is approximately south of Bath, east of the county town, Taunton and west of London. In the 2001...
, Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
.
Family life
Born in London, Maureen was the daughter of Christopher and Honor Lehane. The whole family were evacuated in World War Two to Welwyn Garden CityWelwyn Garden City
-Economy:Ever since its inception as garden city, Welwyn Garden City has attracted a strong commercial base with several designated employment areas. Among the companies trading in the town are:*Air Link Systems*Baxter*British Lead Mills*Carl Zeiss...
. They returned to London after the war, moving to Barnet.
Lehane married Peter Wishart on 26 May 1966. They lived and worked together until his death in 1984. Together they edited 3 volumes of Purcell song realisations and she recorded a CD of his songs with pianist Alexander Kelly (BMS 409).
Education
Maureen attended 'Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Girls' in BarnetBarnet
High Barnet or Chipping Barnet is a place in the London Borough of Barnet, North London, England. It is a suburban development built around a twelfth-century settlement and is located north north-west of Charing Cross. Its name is often abbreviated to Barnet, which is also the name of the London...
. She is reported to have had a reciprocated dislike for the choir director there who refused to allow her into the choir on the grounds that she did not have a voice. Later in life she gave a recital at the school and saw the teacher in the front row.
Lehane's music tuition began with private lessons from Gordon Clinton, who also taught her father, in the Dinely Music Studios on Oxford Street. From here she was given theatrical parts with productions by the amateur Risley Operatic Group, including the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
's Iolanthe
Iolanthe
Iolanthe; or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh collaboration of the fourteen between Gilbert and Sullivan....
in 1952, produced by her father.
After secondary school, Lehane began a course in Textile Design at Hornsey School of Art. She did not finish the couse and instead went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
on a scholarship. There she entered in the inaugural Kathleen Ferrier Award
Kathleen Ferrier Award
The Kathleen Ferrier Award is a prestigious contest for Opera singers held each April in London, England. The first competition was held in 1956. Originally conceived to offer a prize equivalent to a year's tuition plus support, the competition now offers a first prize of £10,000, a second prize...
in 1956. With an Arts Council award and at the advice of Baritone and conductor Dietrich Fischer Dieskau, she went to study in Berlin although this was not a success and she returned to England. At the age of 26, her mother submitted her name to John and Aida Dickens (Joan Sutherland's teachers) who awarded Maureen a scholarship of seven years free tuition.
Professional career
As a professional singer Maureen performed at Sadler's Wells in Handel Opera SocietyHandel Society of New York
The Handel Society of New York was a New York City based musical organization that presented concert and semi-staged performances of operas and oratorios by George Frideric Handel from 1966-1974. The group mainly performed out of Carnegie Hall and was responsible for presenting the American and...
's production of Ariodante in 1974, Glyndebourne Festival, Royal Festival Hall
Royal Festival Hall
The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,900-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge. It is a Grade I listed building - the first post-war building to become so protected...
in 1970, and at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in 1966 in Handel's Xerxes. She sang across the UK, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Poland, Sweden and the US; In 1971 she went on a five month tour of Australia, the Orient and the middle East. Her repertoire stretched from early composers such as Montiverdi, Handel and Bach, through Brahms and Wagner to Honegger, Britten and Skalkottas.
Maureen never felt at home in large performances. She performed several times at the BBC Proms in productions of Janacek's Glagolitic Mass and Stravinsky's Les Noces.
Lehane was mostly at home in Handel opera and oratorios; over the span of her career she was involved in over 100 productions of Handel's Messiah
Messiah
A messiah is a redeemer figure expected or foretold in one form or another by a religion. Slightly more widely, a messiah is any redeemer figure. Messianic beliefs or theories generally relate to eschatological improvement of the state of humanity or the world, in other words the World to...
, 50 Bach Cantatas and 40 St Matthew Passions.
Towards the end of her life she gave up performing, though many recordings still remain.
Great Elm Music Festival
Whilst lecturing in the Music department at Reading University, Lehane began inviting students for a weekend at their home in Great ElmGreat Elm
Great Elm is a village and civil parish between Mells and Frome in the Mendip district of Somerset, England. The parish includes the hamlet of Hapsford.-History:...
, at which they performed and had picnics. Following Peter's death, Lehane felt her heart had left this tradition, but the students at Reading were keen to continue. They expanded this practice and in 1986 the students performed Handel's Water Music
Water Music
Water Music may refer to*Water Music , orchestral suites by George Frideric Handel*Water Music , an orchestral suite by Georg Philipp Telemann*Water Music , a novel by T.C...
by the Mells river. The event became the 'Great Elm Music Festival' held in memory of Peter. The first full festival was held in June 1987. Festivals were run every year for 12 years.
At its height, it was a Summer music festival spanning three weekends with 21 fully professional events held at local venues including Maureen's house, neighbouring houses and a church.
Vocal Awards
The 'Great Elm Vocal Award' was established by Maureen in 1992. Since then it has grown into a national competition for singers between the ages of 22 and 30. It was renamed in 2011 as the 'Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards' following her death. The first 'Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards' were held in October 2011, with the final in the Wigmore Hall on 21 October 2011. It included cash prizes for the top three singers, with an 'Accompanist Prize', and an 'Audience Prize' for the singer the audience felt should win (decided by ballot after the performance).The winners of the 2011 Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards were:
1st place: Marta Fontanals-Simmons
2nd place: Andri Bjorn Robertsson
3rd place: Ben McAteer
Accompanist Prize: Timothy End
Audience Prize: Andri Bjorn Robertsson
Jackdaws Music Education Trust
The Jackdaws Trust was founded in 1992. In 1993 it was supported with patronage from Dame Joan Sutherland OM, a friend of Maureen's. It is still housed in the Coach House building built by Maureen and her husband Peter next to their home in Great Elm.Legacy
Maureen Lehane died in hospital on 27 December 2010, following a long illness.On the 21st October 2011, the Jackdaws Music Education Trust combined the 'Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards 2011' with a Celebration Gala Concert to form a day of events commemorating her life and work, titled We are the Music Makers.
It began with the final of the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards at the Wigmore Hall in the afternoon, at which the winner was decided, along with the presentation of the Accompanist prize for best accompanist and the Audience prize for the singer the audience thought deserved to win (decided by ballot).
Maureen's house in Great Elm is currently for sale. Money from the proceeds is expected to go towards the future of Jackdaws.
Sources
- Various; Memories of Maureen, An Appreciation by Jackdaws' Friends and fellow music lovers of Maureen's life, her work and art (Frome: Jackdaws, 2011).
- Wall, Andrew; Let the music speak (Frome: Hardington Press, 2006).
External links
- Jackdaws Music Education Trust http://www.jackdaws.org.uk
- Independent Newspaper Obituary http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/maureen-lehane-celebrated-mezzosoprano-who-dedicated-herself-to-the-jackdaws-music-trust-2240869.html
- Guardian Newspaper Obituary http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/feb/14/maureen-lehane-obituary
- Telegraph Obituary http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/8236303/Maureen-Lehane-Wishart.html