Louise Catherine Grimes

Louise Catherine Grimes was an Australian musician, teacher, organist, and choir mistress. She was a prominent figure in the Brisbane music community and was notable for being the first woman organist at St John's Cathedral.

Early life and education Grimes was born in Lutwyche, Queensland, in 1907 to Lilian Grimes and Alfred Kingsford Grimes. She attended Windsor State and Brisbane Girls Grammar School and received her early musical education from Ethel Martin. Grimes was also a student with organist George Sampson for 12 years, from whom she received her choral and organ training. In 1937, she became the first woman in Queensland to graduate with a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Adelaide. She achieved a distinction and was one of only two people to hold this degree in Queensland at the time. It was reported that along with university and examination fees, Grimes had to pay for outside tuition and achieved her degree without being provided with lectures from the university.

Broadcast and teaching Grimes was appointed to a Department of Public Instruction committee in 1924 to work with radio station 4QG to supervise educational broadcasting. She broadcast these educational shows from 1938 to 1952.

In the 1930s, Grimes taught at Windsor State School where she was music mistress with a particular focus on the child voice. She directed the musical education of more than 1,100 children including junior and senior girls' choirs and boys' choir of 100 voices each, and an orchestra of 25 violinists. She stated that she did not want to take the children into the public eye too frequently, believing that was better for the children's characters.

Grimes gave a number of Brisbane premiere performances with her choirs. In 1937, she conducted a performance of Benjamin Britten's Saint Nicolas cantata St John's Cathedral with boy's choir, which was the first performance of the work in Brisbane. All the other 19 other applicants for the position were men. It was reported that at the time, Grimes was the only woman organist of a major cathedral in the British Empire. After being appointed organist at St. John's, she resigned from her position of choir mistress of St. Alban's Church.

At St John's, Grimes reformed the music library, unearthing previously unsung Tudor choral music and promoting the singing of twentieth century repertoire.

Grimes often gave recitals and performed in concerts as an organist. She gave a recital at St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney, in September 1956 as part of a larger programme of concerts, including the St Matthew Passion, and also played organ in an all-women concert in 1945 for the reception of the Duchess of Gloucester held by the National Council of Women.

Grimes retired as an organist in 1960 and retired completely in 1973. Once retired, she moved to Jimboomba and took up part-time farming as a hobby.