Janetta McStay

Janetta Mary McStay CBE (20 May 1917 – 14 June 2012) was a New Zealand concert pianist and music professor who performed with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and other orchestras, as a solo artist and as an accompanist and chamber music associate with leading artists from around the world.

McStay in 1967, outside her Wynyard Street studio at the University of Auckland

Early life and education

McStay was born on 20 May 1917 in Roxburgh, New Zealand.[1] She had Scottish and Irish heritage and grew up in Invercargill in a musical family of six children.[2] Her mother, Mary (née Auld) enjoyed singing Scottish songs.[3] Her father, Hugh William McStay, had no formal musical education but great natural talent that enabled him to play almost any instrument. He died when she was 14.[4]

McStay attended Southland Girls' High School.[4][1] She studied piano from the age of five,[2] first under Mona Rankin and then under May O'Byrne (later May Jones),[5][4] and gained high marks in piano exams, including the highest marks in the country in Grade Eight[6] and the highest marks in the South Island for her licentiate exam.[7] While still at school, she played in country concerts for local farming communities and in a school orchestra led by Alex Lindsay, later a highly acclaimed professional musician himself.[2]

At age 17, she was awarded an Associated Board Scholarship to London.[8][9][2] A bequest from a great-uncle and fundraising by the local Invercargill community helped to raise money for her to go,[2] and in 1935, aged 18, she sailed to England[3] to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London.[4]

During her studies, she won a number of prizes and awards, including the Challen gold medal,[10] the Walter Macfarren gold medal,[11] and the Janet Duff Greet Prize for a performance of contemporary music.[1]

Professional career

In 1939, with war looming and her studies finished, McStay took up a teaching job at St Swithun's School, Winchester.[2][1] Later in the war, she auditioned for Entertainments National Service Association (ENSA),[2] and joined a small classical music concert party under Walter Legge, which toured England, Holland, Belgium and France (and after the war, to the occupied zone of Germany) from 1942–46 to play to the armed forces.[3]

In 1947, she travelled for the first time to Spain (a country that continued to fascinate her for the rest of her life).[2] She toured England with a small group of Spanish artists under the auspices of the Arts Council of Great Britain.[12] She also played in numerous broadcasts for the BBC.[13][2]

In 1954, she returned to New Zealand[4] where she took up the first of many contracts with the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation[14] and began a series of nationwide tours for the New Zealand Chamber Music Federation (now Chamber Music New Zealand) and the Community Arts Service, playing in venues that ranged from concert halls to people’s homes.[15][3] She also carried out a three-month tour of Japan as pianist for English violinist Maurice Clare.[16][17][3]

Over the following years she played with the Alex Lindsay String Orchestra,[18] the New Zealand Wind Quintet, the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra (NZSO) and visiting conductors such as Karel Ančerl and Alceo Galliera.[2][19] She played with some of the greatest artists from around the world[20] including, among others, violinists Szymon Goldberg, Ruggiero Ricci, Ladislav Jásek and Henryk Szerying, cellist James Whitehead, trumpet players Gordon Webb and Albert McKinnon and Paul Robeson.[2][3] She also worked with artists in New Zealand, such as Ruth Pearl[21] and Marie Blaschke.[22]

McStay performed the New Zealand premier of Shostakovich’s Piano Concerto No. 2, after writing to the composer, care of the Russian State Music Agency in Moscow, to ask for a copy of his new work.[23][17]

She was the featured soloist in the first NZSO Proms concert on 16 April 1955, playing Grieg's Piano Concerto in A minor.[24] In February 1956, she was among a group of the country's leading pianists who were the first to play Wellington Town Hall's new Steinway piano; she played Mozart's C minor Concerto (K491).[25] In 1961 she played with the Berlin Chamber Orchestra,[26] [27]and in 1968 she played with the Borodin Quartet.[2] She was an excellent soloist but had a special passion for playing chamber music. [28]

She toured from New Zealand to many countries including Indonesia, South Korea, Hong Kong, the Pacific Islands and Australia.[1] In 1960, she and Frederick Page were invited by the Chinese Government to China to attend the National Day celebrations in October.[2]

Teaching

In 1963, McStay moved from Wellington to Auckland as the inaugural lecturer in piano at the University of Auckland Music Conservatorium. She taught there for 20 years until her retirement.[2][29][1] Many of her students have gone on to have illustrious musical careers in New Zealand and overseas.

The Janetta McStay Prize for Pianists is now awarded by the University of Auckland in her name.[30]

Students

Some of her students included:

Key appointments and qualifications

McStay held the LRSM (Licentiate of the Royal Schools of Music), LRAM (Licentiate of the Royal Academy of Music) and ARAM (Hon) (Honorary Associate of the Royal Academy of Music).[1]

She was Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor in piano performance at the University of Auckland. She was a member of the QEII Arts Council Music Panel (1965–67, 1969–71, 1979–81) and the RNZ Concert Programme Advisory Committee, and was President of the Auckland Youth Orchestra (1984–98).[1]

Honours and awards

McStay was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire, for services to music, in the 1974 Queen's Birthday Honours.[40] She was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire, for services to music, in the 1989 New Year Honours.[41]

In 1991, she was awarded an Honorary Doctorate in Music by the University of Auckland.

Personal life

McStay married Frank Newhook in 1975.[1] She died on 14 June 2012, aged 95.[17][42]

References
  1. Taylor, Alister (2001). "McStay, Janetta Mary". New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa. New Zealand Who's Who Aotearoa Ltd: 620. ISSN 1172-9813.
  2. Guerin, David (Summer 2001–02). "An unexpectedly vivid life". Music in New Zealand.
  3. "Janetta McStay (1917–2012)". RNZ. 21 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  4. Fallow, Michael (30 July 2012). "Humble beginnings to the world stage". Stuff.
  5. Cook, Megan (22 October 2014). "Arts education and training: Learning at home and internationally". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  6. "Music examinations: awards to candidates". Auckland Star. 22 February 1934. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  7. "Music examinations: special awards made". New Zealand Herald. 23 February 1935. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  8. "Music scholarships tenable in London: three New Zealanders". New Zealand Herald. 22 March 1935. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  9. "Royal Schools of Music: exhibitions awarded". The Press. 22 March 1935. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  10. "Honour for pianist: Invercargill student: success at Royal Academy". Otago Daily Times. 5 August 1938. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  11. "New Zealand students R.A.M. successes: two prize winners". Otago Daily Times. 22 August 1939. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  12. "News of the Day: N.Z. pianist's success". Otago Daily Times. 9 September 1947. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  13. "Janetta McStay". BBC Genome Radio Times 1923-2009. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  14. "I know what I think: a New Zealand pianist". N.Z. Listener. 7 May 1954.
  15. "Janetta McStay, c 1954: Programme". Hamilton City Libraries: Te Ohomauri o Kirikiriroa Heritage Collections. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  16. "Maurice Clare: three recitals". NZETC. 1 July 1053. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  17. Mechen, Peter (20 June 2012). "Janetta McStay obituary". RNZ. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  18. "Alex Lindsay String Orchestra – CD". SOUNZ. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  19. Tonks, Joy (1986). The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra: the first forty years. Reed Methuen. p. 108.
  20. "Janetta McStay: Performer". SOUNZ. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  21. "Ruth Pearl". Stuff. 31 January 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  22. "Marie Blaschke". Jewish Online Museum. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
  23. "Russian composer sends NZ pianist score of concerto". DigitalNZ. 26 March 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  24. Tonks, Joy (1986). The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra: the First Forty Years. Reed Methuen. p. 74.
  25. Tonks, Joy (1986). The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra: the First Forty Years. Reed Methuen. p. 75.
  26. "Fact, comment, gossip: Honour for NZ pianist". Christchurch Star. 8 June 1961.
  27. "Berlin Orchestra impressively fine". Christchurch Star. 10 August 1961.
  28. Thomson, John Mansfield (1991). The Oxford History of New Zealand Music. Auckland, NZ: Oxford University Press. p. 189. ISBN 0195581768.
  29. Walls, Peter (22 October 2014). "Classical musicians: music teachers". Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  30. "Janetta McStay Prize for Pianists". The University of Auckland. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  31. "Katherine Austin". New Zealand Chamber Soloists. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  32. "Katherine Austin: Senior Lecturer in Piano, Concert Coordinator, Undergraduate and International Student Adviser, School of Arts". The University of Waikato: Te Whare Wananga o Waikato. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  33. "Read Gainsford: Professor of Piano and Coordinator of Keyboard Studies". Florida State University College of Music. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  34. Mechen, Peter (20 April 2014). ""Interprète extraordinaire" Returns to his New Zealand Roots". Seen and heard international. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  35. "Classical evening with David and Christine Griffiths". Raglan Old School Arts Centre. 30 June 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  36. "David Guerin: Commissioner, Performer". SOUNZ. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  37. "Famous faces in the arts: David James". EdgeNZ. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  38. "At the piano with... Catherine Riley". The Cross-Eyed Pianist. 23 July 2013. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  39. "Bryan Sayer: Research Associate: Music Programme, School of Arts". The University of Waikato: Te Whare Wananga o Waikato. Retrieved 13 September 2019.
  40. "No. 46312". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 15 June 1974. p. 6830.
  41. "No. 51580". The London Gazette (3rd supplement). 31 December 1988. p. 34.
  42. "In memory of Janetta Mary Newhook". A memory tree. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
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