Pauline Beryl Sedivka (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Diana Merrien; b. 27 November 1928) OAM is a classical pianist and lecturer based in

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

, Australia.

Career

Born in

Aylesbury Aylesbury ( ) is the county town of Buckinghamshire, England. It is home to the Roald Dahl Children's Gallery and the Aylesbury Waterside Theatre, Waterside Theatre. It is located in central Buckinghamshire, midway between High Wycombe and Milt ...

, England, she was educated in France where she studied with pianist

Marcel Ciampi Marcel Paul Maximin Ciampi (29 May 1891 – 2 September 1980) was a French pianist and teacher. He held the longest tenure in the history of the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris and also became head of piano classes at the ...

. Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, she returned to England, studied with

Franz Reizenstein Franz Theodor Reizenstein (7 June 191115 October 1968) was a Germany, German-born British composer and concert pianist. He left Germany for sanctuary in Britain in 1934 and went on to have his teaching and performing career there. As a composer, ...

and Solomon Cutner, and performed on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

. In 1960 she married violinist Jan Sedivka, and they moved to Queensland, Australia the following year. After several years at the Queensland Conservatorium, they relocated to Hobart, Tasmania, and formed the Tasmanian Conservatorium Trio with cellist Sela Trau. They performed in Hobart and Launceston, and gained praise from the local press. Their final performance as the Tasmanian Conservatorium Trio was held in 1978. Beryl Sedivka is considered one of Hobart's best known and most prominent pianists. She has performed for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

, and lectured at the

Tasmanian Conservatorium of Music Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-lar ...

between 1966 and 2008, with her students including

Geoffrey Lancaster Geoffrey Lancaster (born 20 August 1954) is an Australian classical pianist and conductor. Born in Sydney, he was raised in Dubbo, New South Wales before moving to Canberra. He attended the Canberra School of Music where he studied piano with ...

, and Neil Goodchild. She was awarded an Order of Australian Medal in 2021 for service to music as a performer and mentor.

References

External links

Portrait of Beryl Sedivka, 1991

Biographical cuttings on Beryl Sedivka, musician, containing one or more cuttings from newspapers or journals
- National Library of Australia {{DEFAULTSORT:Sedivka, Beryl Living people 1928 births Australian women classical pianists People from Aylesbury English emigrants to Australia Musicians from Hobart Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia