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The Alex Lindsay Memorial Award
"It happened early in 1975 when members of the NZSO eventually came to terms with the notion of life without Alex, that ideas were exchanged on the best way to provide a suitable memorial to him. Of these ideas, the most interesting was the concept of a trust fund to offer financial aid to young musicians about to embark on advanced studies either in New Zealand or overseas" wrote Robert Burch, NZSO horn player and friend of Alex Lindsay.
With the support of the concert, going public and members of the NZSO, the Alex Lindsay Memorial Award was launched at a concert in the Wellington Town Hall on March 23, 1975. The concert was conducted by John Hopkins, with piano soloist Janetta McStay, and the founding trustees were Robert Burch, John Chisholm, Richard Giese, Angela Lindsay and Wilfred Simenauer.
Born in Invercargill in 1919, Alex Lindsay won a scholarship to the Royal College of Music in 1937 and subsequently joined the London Philharmonic Orchestra. He returned to New Zealand in 1946 as a founding member of the new National Orchestra, and in 1948 he formed the Alex Lindsay String Orchestra, an important ensemble which endured for the next 25 years. He returned to the National Orchestra as Principal Second Violin in 1956, before conducting studies took him to Salzburg in 1963, followed by another period in London during which he held principal positions in the London Philharmonic and the London Symphony. In 1967 he was appointed Concertmaster of the NZSO, a position he held until his sudden death in 1974, aged 55.
The Alex Lindsay Memorial Award, a registered charitable trust, is administered by elected members of the NZSO and its aim is to assist young New Zealanders studying at an advanced level towards an orchestral career.
The current trustees are Vyvyan Yendoll (chairman), Brian Shillito, Vivien Chisholm, Edward Allen, Bridget Douglas, Vesa-Matti Leppänen, and Rachel Vernon. Since its inception in 1975, the Award has granted a total of $184,000 to eighty-four successful applicants, among whom have been Marya Martin, Wilma Smith, Donald Armstrong, Alexa Still, Robert Orr, Justine Cormack, Bridget Douglas, Ashley Brown, and Lara Hall.
In the year 2000, the trustees established a new prize to be awarded annually to an outstanding member of the NZSO National Youth Orchestra. Currently, nine Award winners are members of the NZSO, another sixteen are past members, and at least forty recipients altogether are active orchestra musicians in New Zealand and overseas. Growth and consolidation of the Trust fund are ongoing challenges, and over the years the trustees have welcomed donations in the form of royalties, fees, professional advice, performances, and bequests, from sources as diverse as Kiwi Pacific Records, APRA, NZSO members, the Turnovsky Endowment Trust, Mobil Song Quest 1989, Michael Houstoun, Sir Neville Marriner, Dame Malvina Major, Peter Donohoe, Lynn Harrell, Angela Lindsay, Larry Mitchell, Macquarie Financial Services, the Ron Crane Trust, Astra Print Ltd, and other individuals too numerous to mention.
In 2002, a bronze plaque celebrating the Award was commissioned from Auckland artist Alison Kissling, and was unveiled, along with a roll of all past winners, in the foyer of Wellington's Michael Fowler Center. The Award has established itself as an important source of financial assistance to gifted young New Zealanders, and a fitting memorial to Alex Lindsay.
Find out more about the work of the Alex Lindsay Memorial Award on May 12 at the Michael Fowler Centre, in Wellington, when the orchestra will present the first of four 2007 public open rehearsals. Proceeds for this rehearsal will benefit this worthy cause. This is a unique opportunity go behind the scenes and witness working life of the orchestra, soloists and conductors.
The Trust always welcomes bequests and tax-deductible donations.
Enquiries to the Secretary, ALMA, c/o NZSO, PO Box 6640, Wellington
alma@nzso.co.nz
Website www.alma.org.nz
