Margaret 'Rita' McAllister (born 6 March 1946) is a

Scottish 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 ...

musicologist Musicology is the academic, research-based study of music, as opposed to musical composition or performance. Musicology research combines and intersects with many fields, including psychology, sociology, acoustics, neurology, natural sciences, f ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

. She was the Director of Music at the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...

and is a renowned authority on the works of

Sergei Prokofiev Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev; alternative transliterations of his name include ''Sergey'' or ''Serge'', and ''Prokofief'', ''Prokofieff'', or ''Prokofyev''. , group=n ( – 5 March 1953) was a Russian composer, pianist, and conductor who l ...

Biography

McAllister was born on 6 March 1946 in

Mossend Mossend is a village in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, located beside the town of Bellshill, west of the villages of Holytown and New Stevenston, north of the larger town of Motherwell and south of the Eurocentral industrial park and the M8 motor ...

North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders the north-east of the Glasgow City council area and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns, and villages. It also borders East Dunbartonshire, Falkirk (co ...

. She undertook her undergraduate studies at the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

, graduating BMus with first class honours. At the same time she was a part-time student at the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland (), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama () is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and film in Glasgow, Scotland. It is a member of the Federation of Drama Schools. Founde ...

studying piano with Wight Henderson and viola with Frieda Peters. She studied composition with

Anthony Hedges Anthony J. Hedges (5 March 1931 – 19 June 2019) was an English composer, the son of children's writer Sidney Hedges. Life Hedges was born in Bicester, Oxfordshire, and studied music at Keble College Oxford, where his tutors included Thomas A ...

and

Robin Orr Robert Kemsley (Robin) Orr (2 June 1909 – 9 April 2006) was a Scottish organist and composer. Life Born in Brechin, and educated at Loretto School, he studied the organ at the Royal College of Music in London under Walter Galpin Alcock, and pi ...

, and won the first

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

Young Composer’s prize in 1966. In the late 1960s she spent three years 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 ...

researching the operas of Sergei Prokofiev; she completed her PhD in 1970. Her work on Prokofiev resulted in intensive work in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

and throughout the southern USSR. In the 1970s and 1980s she broadcast and published extensively on many aspects of Soviet and Russian music. Her compositions from this time include chamber works, song cycles and works for music theatre, as well as electro-acoustic pieces. From 1969 she was a lecturer in the Faculty of Music at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, teaching composition, 20th-century history and analysis, and established the electronic and recording studios there. She was appointed Director of Music at the Academy in 1986, and from 1996 to 2006 she was additionally Vice-Principal. McAllister edited the original version of Prokofiev's ''

War and Peace ''War and Peace'' (; pre-reform Russian: ; ) is a literary work by the Russian author Leo Tolstoy. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the work comprises both a fictional narrative and chapters in which Tolstoy discusses history and philosophy. An ...

'' which was premiered in Glasgow on 22 January 2010.

References

Cohen, Aaron I. ''International encyclopedia of women composers : classical and serious music'' New York: R. R. Bowker, 1981. {{DEFAULTSORT:McAllister, Rita 1946 births People from Bellshill Academics of the University of Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Cambridge Alumni of the University of Glasgow Scottish musicologists Living people British women musicologists 20th-century British musicologists 21st-century British musicologists Academics of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Scottish women academics 20th-century Scottish women composers 21st-century Scottish women composers 20th-century Scottish women writers 21st-century Scottish women educators