Maureen Lehane

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 (composer). They lived in Great Elm near Frome, Somerset.^[1]

Family Life

Born in London, Maureen was the daughter of Christopher and Honor Lehane.^[2] The whole family were evacuated in World War Two to Welwyn Garden City. They returned to London after the war, moving to Barnet.^[2][3]

Lehane married Peter Wishart on 26 May 1966.^[4] 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).^[5][6]

Education

Maureen attended 'Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Girls' in Barnet.^[2] 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.^[7]

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.^[2]

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.^[8] 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.^[9][10]

Professional career

As a professional singer Maureen performed at Sadler's Wells in Handel Opera Society's production of Ariodante in 1974, Glyndebourne Festival,^[11] Royal Festival Hall in 1970, and at Carnegie Hall in 1966 in Handel's Xerxes.^[12][13] 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.^[14] 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^[15] 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.^[16]

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 Elm, at which they performed and had picnics.^[17] 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.^[17][18]

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.^[19]

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.^[20] 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).^[21][22]

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.^[23]

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.^[24]

It began with the final of the Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards at the Wigmore Hall in the afternoon,^[25] 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.

See also

• Peter Wishart (composer)

References

1. ^ Jackdaws (2011). Memories of Maureen. Frome: Jackdaws Music Education Trust. pp. 13. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Wall, Andrew (2006). Let the Music Speak. Frome: Hardington Press. pp. 37. ISBN 0-9554340-0-9. 
3. ^ Jackdaws (2011). Memories of Maureen. Frome: Jackdaws Music Education Trust. pp. 3–4. 
4. ^ Wall, Andrew (2006). Let the Music speak. Frome: Hardington Press. pp. 44. ISBN 0-9554340-0-9. 
5. ^ Lehane Wishart, Maureen. "Peter Wishart Biography". PeterWishart.org. http://www.wishart.org/peterwishart.html. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
6. ^ Stainer & Bell. "Peter Wishart Biography". Stainer & Bell. http://www.stainer.co.uk/wishart.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
7. ^ Wall, Andrew (2006). Frome: Hardington Press. pp. 37. ISBN 0-9554340-0-9. 
8. ^ Wall, Andrew (2006). Let the Music Speak. Frome: Hardington Press. pp. 38. ISBN 0-9554340-0-9. 
9. ^ "Maureen Lehane". Operissimo. http://hosting.operissimo.com/triboni/exec?method=com.operissimo.artist.webDisplay&id=ffcyoieagxaaaaablivb&xsl=webDisplay&searchStr=. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
10. ^ Bach Cantatas. "Maureen Lehane". Biography. Bach Cantatas. http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Lehane-Maureen.htm. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
11. ^ Glyndebourne Opera Festival. "L'Ormindo". Glyndebourne. http://glyndebourne.com/archive/performance/lormindo-23-june-1967-0. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
12. ^ Hughes, Allen. 78AD95F428685F9&scp=2&sq=%22Handel+Society+of+New+York%22&st=p "Handel's "Xerxes" Title Role Sung by Maureen Forrester at Carnegie Hall". The New York Times. http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F70B17FE3B54117B93C3AB1 78AD95F428685F9&scp=2&sq=%22Handel+Society+of+New+York%22&st=p. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
13. ^ "Handel Society of New York". Partial Discography. Wikipedi a. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handel_Society_of_New_York. Retrieved 5 October 2011. 
14. ^ "Bach Cantatas". http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Lehane-Maureen.htm. 
15. ^ BBC Proms. "Maureen Lehane". Archive. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/archive/search/performance_find.shtml?artist_id=5355&all=1&tab=search&sub_tab=artist. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
16. ^ Wall, Andrew (2006). Let the Music Speak. Frome: Hardington Press. pp. 69–81. ISBN 0-9554340-0-9. 
17. ^ ^{a b} Wall, Andrew (2006). Let the Music Speak. Frome: Hardington Press. pp. 21. ISBN 0-9554340-0-9. 
18. ^ Wall, Andrew. "Independent Newspaper". Maureen Lehane Obituary. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/maureen-lehane-celebrated-mezzosoprano-who-dedicated-herself-to-the-jackdaws-music-trust-2240869.html. Retrieved 5 October 2011. 
19. ^ Millington, Barry (14 February 2011). "Maureen Lehane Obituary". Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/feb/14/maureen-lehane-obituary. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
20. ^ Jackdaws Music Education Trust. "Young Artists". Jackdaws Music Education Trust. http://www.jackdaws.org.uk/youngartists.html. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 
21. ^ Jackdaws Music Education Trust. "Young Artists". http://www.jackdaws.org.uk/youngartists.html. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
22. ^ "InTune". Radio 3. BBC. http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0167sgc/In_Tune_24_10_2011_Craig_Ogden_Mark_Bebbington_Maureen_Lehane_Vocal_Awards/. Retrieved 30 October 2011. 
23. ^ Wall, Andrew (2006). Let the Music Speak. Frome: Hardington Press. pp. 84. ISBN 0-9554340-0-9. 
24. ^ Jackdaws Music Education Trust. "Concerts". http://www.jackdaws.org.uk/concerts.html. Retrieved 10 October 2011. 
25. ^ Wigmore Hall. "Maureen Lehane Vocal Awards". Wigmore Hall. http://www.wigmore-hall.org.uk/whats-on/productions/maureen-lehane-vocal-awards-2011-28689. Retrieved 18 October 2011. 

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 [1]
• Indepedent Newpaper Obituary [2]
• Guardian Newspaper Obituary [3]
• Telegraph Obituary [4]