John Millard Dunn (5 January 1865 – 3 March 1936) was an Australian church organist and choirmaster, notable for his long-standing tenure at

St Peter's Cathedral, Adelaide St Peter's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in the South Australian capital of Adelaide. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Adelaide and Metropolitan of the Province of South Australia. The cathedral, a significant Adelaide landmark, is sit ...

, where he served for 44 years.

History

John Dunn, born in North Adelaide as a twin son of John Charles Dunn and Lydia Charlotte Dunn née Smithson, of Barnard Street, North Adelaide, received his education at John Whinham's

North Adelaide Grammar School North Adelaide Grammar School, later Whinham College was a private school operated in North Adelaide, South Australia by John Whinham (3 August 1803 – 13 March 1886) and his family. History John Whinham The founder of the school was born at S ...

. His early musical training included piano studies under Miss Francis of Glenelg, and later, with E. Smith-Hall and Herr Boehm. A choirboy at St Peter's Cathedral under Arthur Boult, Dunn was recognized as a featured soloist. He studied organ under Boult and, in 1882, became his assistant due to his remarkable proficiency. Despite being a finalist for the inaugural

Elder Overseas Scholarship The Elder Overseas Scholarship, sometimes referred to as the Elder Travelling Scholarship, is a triennial award to a South Australian (classical) musician, selected by competition from eligible candidates, to study at the Royal College of Music, Lon ...

to the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

in 1883, he did not secure the scholarship, which was won by Otto Fischer (later Otto Fischer Sobell). Dunn also held full-time positions with Francis Clark & Sons and the

Bank of Australasia The Bank of Australasia was an Australian bank in operation from 1835 to 1951. Headquartered in London, the bank was incorporated by royal charter in March 1834. It had initially been planned to additionally include first South Africa and then ...

. In 1888, he sailed for London to study with W. de Manby Sergison, organist at St. Peter's, Eaton square, London, and in 1889, he continued his studies under Sir

Frederick Bridge Sir John Frederick Bridge (5 December 1844 – 18 March 1924) was an English organist, composer, teacher and writer. From a musical family, Bridge became a church organist before he was 20, and he achieved his ambition to become a cathedral ...

, the renowned organist of

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...

. Upon his return to Adelaide, he taught at the Adelaide College of Music (later Elder Conservatorium) under

Cecil Sharp Cecil James Sharp (22 November 1859 – 23 June 1924) was an English collector of folk songs, folk dances and instrumental music, as well as a lecturer, teacher, composer and musician. He was a key figure in the folk-song revival in England dur ...

and I. G. Reimann. Appointed organist at the cathedral on 1 November 1891, he officiated at the inauguration of the new organ in 1930; the last service at which he presided occurred just a week before his death at the age of 71 years. His successor was the Rev. (later Canon) H. P. Finnis.

Other activities

Dunn served as the conductor for the Adelaide Orpheus Society and as president of the Adelaide Society of Organists. He composed the music for the stage musical ''The Mandarin'' with libretti by

Harry Congreve Evans Henry Congreve Evans (10 December 1860 – 9 January 1899) was a journalist, editor and newspaper proprietor of South Australia. Biography The Rev. Ephraim Evans (1825 – 6 April 1863), a Baptist minister born in Wales, married Mary Ann Wil ...

, performed at the

Theatre Royal, Adelaide The Theatre Royal on Hindley Street, Adelaide was a significant venue in the history of the stage and movie theater, cinema in South Australia. After a small predecessor of the same name on Franklin Street, Adelaide, Franklin Street (built 1838), ...

in 1896. Dunn was a successful teacher of the organ; two of his students,

Arthur H. Otto Arthur Hermann Otto (10 February 1876 – ?) was an organist, composer, singer and teacher of music in Adelaide, South Australia. He had a later singing and teaching career in England as Arthur Kingston-Stewart. History Otto was the only son of ...

and

Horace Weber Quintus Horatius Flaccus (; 8 December 65 BC – 27 November 8 BC),Suetonius, Life of Horace commonly known in the English-speaking world as Horace (), was the leading Roman lyric poet during the time of Augustus (also known as Octavian). The r ...

, gained recognition in their own right. Otto, in particular, occasionally filled in as assistant organist. Dunn also taught music theory at Tormore House, a school for girls in North Adelaide.

Recognition

A newspaper once nominated him as one of the 15 notable South Australian musicians of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, alongside figures like Frederick Bevan,

Charles Cawthorne Charles Witto-witto Cawthorne (1 July 1854 – 26 June 1925) was a businessman who, with his father founded Cawthorne and Co, music publishers and retailers in Adelaide, South Australia. He was a proficient musician and important in the history ...

, E. Harold Davies, Thomas Grigg, and others.

Family

John M. Dunn had four brothers: Frank C. Dunn (his identical twin), a banker in Sydney who retired to Mount Lofty; Walter C. Dunn of

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk River, North Esk and South Esk River, South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River, Tasmania, Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launc ...

; Dr. Spencer S. Dunn, of

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

, England; and George V. S. Dunn, a mining engineer in

Isleworth Isleworth ( ) is a suburban town in the London Borough of Hounslow, West London, England. It lies immediately east of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane, London, River Crane. Isleworth's original area of ...

, Middlesex, England. On 29 August 1906, John M. Dunn married Gertrude Josephine Ann Henning (d. 15 May 1939) of North Adelaide. They had two children: *Seymour Dunn, who moved to London and married Hazel Griffith in 1937 *Evelyn Young Dunn (10 March 1910 – ), who married Donnell Downey and lived at Thorngate They were not closely related to the early settler Dunns of SA.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, John Millard 1865 births 1936 deaths Australian choral conductors Australian classical organists Australian male classical organists Australian music educators