Agnes Duncan

MBE Mbe may refer to: * Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo * Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria * Mbe language, a language of Nigeria * Mbe' language, language of Cameroon * ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language of t ...

(10 November 1899 – 1996) was a Scottish singer and choral conductor. Her Scottish Junior Singers won the leading BBC choral competition on two occasions.

Life

Duncan was born in Alexandria in West Dunbartonshire. and she was singing in

Vale of Leven The Vale of Leven (Scottish Gaelic: ''Magh Leamhna'') is an area of West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in the valley of the River Leven. Historically, it was part of The Lennox, the name of which derives from the Gaelic term ''Leamhnach'', meaning '' ...

children’s choir, with her elder sister, when she was ten. She became the contralto soloist of Glasgow Cathedral Choir. She first attended the first Glasgow Music Festival in 1911. She formed the

Scottish Junior Singers Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

in 1943. It was launched on credit and it had 60 singers. In 1952 she conducted at the

Edinburgh International Festival The Edinburgh International Festival is an annual arts festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, spread over the final three weeks in August. Notable figures from the international world of music (especially classical music) and the performing arts are ...

. In 1958 Duncan's choir had won the children's and the youth class of the BBC radio's Let the People Sing choral competition. which were held in the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-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, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

. In 1961 Agnes Duncan's choir again won the children's and the youth class. In 1967 Duncan was rewarded with an MBE in recognition of her contribution to music. Duncan died in 1996 having attended every Glasgow Music Festival since 1911. She was frequently a conductor or performer, but she was later a committee member. She was in time made the honorary life President.

Death and legacy

In 1989 the Agnes Duncan Trophy was created by the

Soroptimist International Soroptimist International (SI) is a global volunteer service organization for women with nearly 72,000 members in 121 countries worldwide. According to Soroptimist.org, their mission statement says that, "Soroptimist is a global volunteer organiza ...

's Glasgow Club to mark Agnes Duncan’s 90th Birthday. The Trophy, and a cheque for £100 is awarded to the best soloist, under 18, at the Glasgow Music Festival.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Agnes 1899 births 1996 deaths People from Alexandria, West Dunbartonshire Scottish singers