Ernest Llewellyn

Ernest Victor Llewellyn CBE (21 June 191512 July 1982) was an Australian violinist, concertmaster, violist, conductor and musical administrator. He was the founding director of the Canberra School of Music and is commemorated by Llewellyn Hall, the concert venue at the School.

Early career Ernest Llewellyn was born in Kurri Kurri, New South Wales in 1915. He was educated at Kurri Kurri State School, Maitland High School, and, for six months, at the NSW Conservatorium of Music in Sydney. In 1933 the 17-year-old Llewellyn gave a ‘grand farewell violin recital’ at the West Maitland Town Hall. It was later decided that the money raised by the concert and by public appeal should be given to those suffering in the Great Depression. In 1934 he commenced studies with Jascha Gopinko.

From 1934 to 1937 he was the violist in the Sydney String Quartet and the leader of the viola section of the ABC Sydney Orchestra. In 1936 he appeared as a solo violinist under the baton of Sir Malcolm Sargent. He was offered the position of deputy leader of the Scottish Orchestra, but turned it down.

That year he married Ruth Smith, daughter of the violin and viola maker A.E. Smith, whose wedding gift was a violin of his own making. In 1940 he moved to Melbourne to become Deputy Leader of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. He also taught at the University of Melbourne, and was the leader of the Melbourne University String Quartet. He served his country between 1942 and 1944 in the Royal Australian Air Force.

From 1944 to 1948 he was leader of the Queensland State String Quartet (QSSQ), taking them on a tour of New Zealand in 1948 at the invitation of the Wellington Chamber Music Society. Reviews of the tour led to the establishment of the New Zealand Federation of Chamber Music Clubs.

In 1947, Isaac Stern visited Australia for the first time. He attended a performance by the QSSQ and was impressed by the tonal qualities of the violin being played by Llewellyn. Stern went backstage to meet Llewellyn and learned about A.E. Smith for the first time. The next morning they swapped instruments and played together; the two became lifelong friends.

In 1949 Ernest Llewellyn and Hephzibah Menuhin (then married to an Australian and living in western Victoria) presented the complete violin sonatas of Beethoven in a series of recitals in the eastern states of Australia.

Sydney Symphony Orchestra Llewellyn was appointed Concertmaster of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1949, and Assistant Conductor in 1959. From 1949 to 1955 he was the leader of the ABC String Quartet. In 1952 he again toured New Zealand, this time as part of the Llewellyn-Kennedy Piano Trio (with John Kennedy, cello, and Scylla Kennedy, piano; they were the parents of Nigel Kennedy, although they never married).

When Isaac Stern toured Australia again in 1954, he and Llewellyn played Bach's Double Concerto with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The pianist William Kapell had recently been killed in a plane crash while returning from his Australian tour, and Stern set up the William Kapell Memorial Fund to bring notable musicians to the US for wider experience. Stern gave a concert in Sydney in July 1954 for the William Kapell Memorial Fund, and ensured that Ernest Llewellyn was the inaugural recipient.

The Canberra School of Music operated until 1976 in temporary premises that were previously the Manuka Mothercraft Centre. In 1976 he was given approval to proceed with his plans for a permanent School of Music in Canberra. He based his conception of the School as a centre of excellence on the Juilliard School, and he regarded Isaac Stern as the "father" of the school. In 1970 he was raised to Commander level (CBE) within the same order.

Llewellyn is commemorated in: the Ernest Llewellyn Memorial Scholarship, the Llewellyn Hall at the Canberra School of Music, and the Llewellyn Choir in Canberra.

Ernest Llewellyn was inducted into the Cessnock Hall of Fame on 6 December 2006.