Winifred Honor McKellar (10 November 1920 – 2 February 2024) was a New Zealand mezzo-soprano opera singer and singing teacher, and was the first full-time lecturer in singing at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...

. Her students included

Jonathan Lemalu Jonathan Fa'afetai Lemalu (born 1976) is a New Zealand bass baritone opera singer. Born to Samoan parents who had emigrated to New Zealand, he was educated in Dunedin. His first singing teacher was Honor McKellar, who began teaching him while h ...

, Patrick Power and Matt Landreth. In 1989, she was awarded a

Queen's Service Medal The King's Service Medal (created as the Queen's Service Medal in 1975 and renamed in 2024) is a medal awarded by the government of New Zealand to recognise and reward volunteer service to the community and also public service in elected or app ...

for services to music, and in 2012, she was made a life member of the New Zealand Association of Teachers of Singing.

Early life and education

Winifred Honor McKellar was born in Dunedin on 10 November 1920. Her mother was musical although McKellar does not recall hearing her sing. McKellar was taught piano by Miss Allen, and dancing by Dorothy Dean. At 16, she had her first singing lesson, from Dunedin musician Ida White. McKellar graduated with a BA from the

in 1942 and a MusB in 1944. She would illustrate examples at the weekly public music class given by the head of the Music Department, Victor Galway. From 1946 to 1949, McKellar studied at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in London. During her studies, she took part in the production of the opera ''

The Poisoned Kiss ''The Poisoned Kiss, or The Empress and the Necromancer'' is an opera in three acts by the English composer Ralph Vaughan Williams. The libretto, by Evelyn Sharp, is based on Richard Garnett's ''The Poison Maid'' and Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1844 ...

'' by

Ralph Vaughan Williams Ralph Vaughan Williams ( ; 12 October 1872– 26 August 1958) was an English composer. His works include operas, ballets, chamber music, secular and religious vocal pieces and orchestral compositions including nine symphonies, written over ...

, which she regarded as her first proper stage experience. McKellar said:

There were three of us who were mediums, not quite human, we were mythical. I remember being offered a chair and mistily replying 'we prefer to float about the ether' and there was a roar of laughter, and it hooked me on making people laugh. The next day Vaughan Williams bumped into me in the corridor and said, 'you're the girl who does things with the words'.

Singing and teaching career

When McKellar returned to New Zealand she was one of the original singers for Donald Munro's

New Zealand Opera Company The New Zealand Opera Company was New Zealand's first resident professional national company, formed by baritone Donald Munro in 1954. Its first full-scale work was Mozart's ''Marriage of Figaro'' in 1958, which toured 47 towns. From 1963 fun ...

. During the 1960s, she returned to the UK as a session musician, and sang in the

Glyndebourne Chorus Glyndebourne Festival Opera is an annual opera festival held at Glyndebourne, an English country house near Lewes, in East Sussex, England. History Under the supervision of the Christie family, the festival has been held annually since 1934, ex ...

, Opera For All, and the John Alldis Choir, performing in the latter's choral accompaniment to

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

album ''

Atom Heart Mother ''Atom Heart Mother'' is the fifth studio album by the English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released by Harvest on 2 October 1970 in the United Kingdom, and on 10 October 1970 in the United States. It was recorded at EMI Studios (now Abbey Roa ...

''. McKellar credits London-based singing teacher Roy Henderson teaching her the importance of "getting the meaning of music across by other means, concentrating on what the body was doing." In 1971 McKellar returned to Dunedin where she became the university's first executant lecturer in singing, being appointed the William Evans lecturer. It was through McKellar's pressure that the Music Department appointed a full-time pianist, Maurice Till. McKellar retired from her lecturing position in 1985 but continued to teach both privately and at the university. She recalled one of the highlights of her time at the university as staging operas in Allen Hall, with Professor Peter Platt, that were meant for full-size opera houses, later saying "Some of them must have been hilariously bad!". McKellar's students included Patrick Power,

and Matthew Landreth.

Personal life and death

McKellar was a resident of the

Yvette Williams Dame Yvette Winifred Corlett (née Williams; 25 April 1929 – 13 April 2019) was a New Zealand track-and-field athlete who was the first woman from her country to win an Olympic gold medal and to hold the world record in the women's long jum ...

Retirement Village in Dunedin. She died in

Alexandra Alexandra () is a female given name of Greek origin. It is the first attested form of its variants, including Alexander (, ). Etymology, Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; genitive, GEN , ; ...

on 2 February 2024, at the age of 103.

Recognition

In the 1989 Queen's Birthday Honours, McKellar was awarded the

for community service. In 2012 she was made a life member of the New Zealand Association of Teachers of Singing (NEWZATS). McKellar was the guest of honour at a Mothers' Day performance given by Lemalu in Dunedin in 2021. Lemalu has said of McKellar that he would not have a singing career without her: "I remember your boundless energy, patience, and instilling fun and joy in my music making. You always kept me grounded, you always kept me focussed... every singing teacher subsequently is and was compared to you, my musical mother." The university held a morning tea at their new Performing Arts Centre to celebrate McKellar's 100th birthday in November 2020.

References

External links

Radio New Zealand interview with McKellar
including archival recordings of her singing with the NZ Opera Company and with the Dunedin Civic Orchestra in the 1970s. (55m09) {{DEFAULTSORT:Mckellar, Honor 1920 births 2024 deaths 20th-century New Zealand women opera singers University of Otago alumni Academic staff of the University of Otago Alumni of the Royal Academy of Music Musicians from Dunedin New Zealand women centenarians Recipients of the Queen's Service Medal