Michael Brimer (8 August 1933 – 7 March 2023) was a South African-Australian pianist, organist, conductor, composer, musicologist, and academic.

Biography

Brimer was born in South Africa and studied with Eleanor Bonnar, a pupil of

Leopold Godowsky Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. (13 February 1870 – 21 November 1938) was a virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher, born in what is now Lithuania to Jewish parents, who became an United States of America, American citizen in 1891. He ...

. Brimer's school days were spent at the prestigious St George's Grammar School in Cape Town. He continued studies at the

University of Cape Town The University of Cape Town (UCT) (, ) is a public university, public research university in Cape Town, South Africa. Established in 1829 as the South African College, it was granted full university status in 1918, making it the oldest univer ...

, 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 ...

, the

Royal School of Church Music The Royal School of Church Music (RSCM) is a Christian music education organisation dedicated to the promotion of music in Christian worship, in particular the repertoire and traditions of Anglican church music, largely through publications, tr ...

in London and at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He also studied in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and Australia, where he lived. He was music master at

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

’s Church of England Grammar School in the late 1950s. During that time, he staged

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...

’s ''

The Mikado ''The Mikado; or, The Town of Titipu'' is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert, their ninth of fourteen Gilbert and Sullivan, operatic collaborations. It opened on 14 March 1885, in London, whe ...

'', the first time an out-of-copyright G&S production had been staged in Queensland.Queensland Flute Guild
/ref> His academic career included appointments at the

University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

and the

University of Natal The University of Natal was a university in the former South African province Natal which later became KwaZulu-Natal. The University of Natal no longer exists as a distinct legal entity, as it was incorporated into the University of KwaZulu- ...

as Foundation Professor of Music, the University of Cape Town as Dean of the Faculty of Music. and the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

where he was for nine years the Ormond Professor of Music. He was appointed Professor Emeritus on leaving

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and was subsequently based in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

while performing and lecturing. His international solo-performing career also flourished and he gave concerts in many countries as recitalist, soloist and chamber musician. In 1962 he premiered

Malcolm Williamson Malcolm Benjamin Graham Christopher Williamson, (21 November 19312 March 2003) was an Australian composer. He was the Master of the Queen's Music from 1975 until his death. According to ''Grove Music Online'', although Williamson's earlier co ...

's Piano Concerto No. 2. He was a member of The Australian Trio, along with Donald Hazelwood (violin) and Georg Pedersen (cello).The Australian Trio
He performed the complete series of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

's 32 piano sonatas five times to great critical acclaim. In Australia, both the live broadcast and recorded series of the Beethoven and of the complete

Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

piano works have been voted the most popular series on

ABC Classic FM ABC Classic, formerly ABC-FM (also ABC Fine Music), and then ABC Classic FM, is an Australian classical music radio station available in Australia and internationally. Its website features classical music news, features and listening guides. I ...

in 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 ...

's annual listener survey. Brimer claimed to be the first pianist to record the complete Beethoven sonatas in Australia. The series of live recitals broadcast in 1986 were intended for commercial release on cassette tape, but due to a technical issue not all the sonatas were released.

Gerard Willems Gerard Willems AM (born Gerardus Maria Willems; 19 August 1946) is a Dutch- Australian classical pianist and teacher. He was the first Australian pianist to record the complete series of 32 piano sonatas by Ludwig van Beethoven. He also r ...

is the first pianist in Australia to record the 32 sonatas on CD. In January 2001, in a recital at the City Recital Hall in Sydney, he played Beethoven's ''Hammerklavier'' Sonata. The reviewer for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'', Harriet Cunningham, said he had some memory lapses. To rebuff this, he asked Daniel Herscovitch, lecturer in music at the

Sydney Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM) — formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music, and known by the moniker "The Con" — is the music school of the University of Sydney. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious music ...

, to review the tapes of the performance broadcast by

. Herscovitch found there were some finger slips, but no more than might be expected of pianists of international standing, and no memory lapses at all. The ''Herald'' published his findings in their apology to Brimer on 21 February.Matthew Westwood, "Facing the music", ''

ABC Radio 24 Hours ''Limelight'' is an Australian digital and print magazine focusing on music, arts and culture. It is based in Sydney, New South Wales. Originally published in 1976 by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), as ''ABC Radio 24 Hours'', or ...

'', May 2001, p.12 Michael Brimer's many performances as organist included those at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

, Clare and King’s Colleges, Cambridge, and the Sydney and Melbourne Town Halls, as well as soloist with Australian orchestras. His conducting experience with orchestras in Australia and overseas encompassed opera, choral and orchestral repertoire, from classical to contemporary works (including premiere performances). Brimer and his wife Judith were among the co-founders of the Bermagui Four Winds Festival, at which some of his works have been played and he appeared as a pianist. Michael Brimer composed a number of works. Both his Piano Trios were premiered with the Australian Trio, and the first (2001) has been recorded. In 1975, his book ''Utopia Unlimited'' was published in Cape Town. In 2005, Brimer was appointed Music Pedagogy Adviser to the

Australian Music Examinations Board The Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB) is a federated, privately funded corporation which provides a program of examinations for music, speech and drama in Australia. The organisation had its beginnings at the Universities of Melbourne ...

(NSW), and was a member of AMEB's Teaching Specialist Panel. Brimer was a juror for the 2006 Lev Vlassenko Piano Competition, and the 2008 Sydney International Piano Competition (SIPCA). He also assisted Warren Thomson in the Sydney auditions for the 2008 SIPCA. Brimer died on 7 March 2023, at the age of 89.Sydney Morning Herald, Obituaries, 11 March 2023
/ref>

Notes

Sources

AMEB Newsletter November 2006
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brimer, Michael 1933 births 2023 deaths 20th-century Australian classical composers 21st-century Australian classical composers South African classical musicians South African classical organists South African classical pianists South African composers South African male composers Australian classical organists Australian male classical organists Australian male classical pianists Australian music educators Piano educators Academic staff of the University of Natal Australian male classical composers 21st-century Australian classical pianists 21st-century Australian organists 20th-century Australian male musicians 21st-century Australian male musicians