Valda Aveling

Valda Rose Aveling (16 May 192021 November 2007) was an Australian pianist, harpsichordist and clavichordist. Her repertoire was very wide, including composers as diverse as William Byrd, Jan Sweelinck, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Béla Bartók.

Education Valda Aveling was born in Sydney, the youngest of four girls and a boy, and showed great talent at an early age. At 16 she received teaching and performing diplomas from the NSW Conservatorium of Music, over 1933–35, and performed in the Sydney Eisteddfod in 1935 where she won the Sydney Eisteddfod Australian Women's Weekly 100-pound pianoforte scholarship for the most talented juvenile pianist.

Reception A Sydney Morning Herald review of her performance at the Conservatorium on 31 April 1936 noted "the enthusiasm of a large audience. The Bach Suite, with which she opened, was notable for its clarity; and Schumann's Sonata In G Minor found the young artist capable of the requisite power and virility. She was equally convincing in Cesar Franck's prelude and variations. The prelude by Frank Hutchins (her teacher) received its first performance at this recital, and proved to be an inspiring piece of work. The programme closed with the Debussy suite".

Touring artist Aveling then left for Britain to study harpsichord and clavichord with Violet Gordon-Woodhouse, and there made several recordings. In 1947, from 22 April to 12 April she toured Perth, Adelaide, Hobart (playing Grieg's Concerto in A Minor), Launceston, Brisbane, Toowoomba, Canberra, Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne, Albury, Ballarat, and Bendigo for the Australian Broadcasting Commission but returned to Britain by the early 1950s. For the next 30 years, she appeared at major British festivals such as the Proms and throughout the Far East, Europe and North America.

Personal life Valda Aveling never married. She lived the last ten years of her life being cared for by friends and tending her garden, which contained a large eucalyptus tree imported from Australia. She died at the age of 87.