Rachel Valler | |
|---|---|
 Rachel Valler c1954 | |
| Background information | |
| Also known as | Rachel Travers |
| Born | c1930 Sydney, Australia |
| Occupation | musician |
| Instrument | piano |
| Formerly of | Hazelwood Trio |
Rachel Valler OAM (b. c1930 [1] Sydney, Australia) is an Australian pianist. She was a member of the Hazelwood Trio.
Rachel Valler's parents, Sonia and Joseph Vallerstein, arrived in Australia from Russia in 1927. Valler was their only daughter, [2] born in Sydney. [3]
She studied piano from an early age, [4] performed with the Zionist Youth League during her teens as a solo pianist, [5] and was mentored by Ignaz Friedman until his death in 1948. [6]
As a soloist, she performed with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and music clubs in 1951 aged 21. [1] [7] [8] That same year she received her Bachelor of Arts at Sydney University, [9] [10] and went onto gain a Diploma of Education from Melbourne University. [2]
She taught music and worked in the library at Ascham Girls School, [3] and won the State final of the ABC Concerto Competition in 1954. [11] Although she did not win the Commonwealth finals, she was commended for her "thoughtful, searching, sensitive playing" of Chopin. [12]
She travelled to London in the early 1950s, [3] and taught piano while studying with the Hungarian pianist Ilona Kabos. [3] While there, she was awarded the Commonwealth Medal in the Harriet Cohen International Competition for 1956. [3]
During the 1980s she was considered one of Australia's most distinguished classical musicians, alongside Donald Hazelwood and Anne Menzies. Together they performed as the Hazelwood Trio. [13]
She was also head teacher of English and Humanities, at Randwick Technical College. [14] [15]
In 1995 she was awarded an Order of Australia Medal for service to music. [16]
She is married to Walter Travers. [17]
Miriam Beatrice Hyde was an Australian composer, classical pianist, music educator, and poet.
June Mary Bronhill, also known as June Gough, was an Australian coloratura soprano opera singer, performer and actress,
Ignaz Friedman was a Polish pianist and composer. Critics and colleagues alike placed him among the supreme piano virtuosi of his day, alongside Leopold Godowsky, Moriz Rosenthal, Ferruccio Busoni, Josef Hofmann and Josef Lhévinne.
Ambre Hammond is an Australian classical pianist and composer.
Simon Tedeschi is an Australian classical pianist and writer.
Nancy Mary Weir was an Australian pianist and teacher.
Max Olding AM and Pamela Page were a distinguished Australian husband and wife team of duo-pianists. They performed separately in recitals and as concerto soloists, chamber music performers and accompanists both nationally and internationally, but were best known as a piano duo.
Michael Brimer was a South African-Australian pianist, organist, conductor, composer, musicologist, and academic.
John Farnsworth Hall was an Australian conductor and violinist.
Donald Leslie Grant Hazelwood AO OBE is an Australian violinist and concert master.
Muriel Myee Steinbeck was an Australian actress who worked extensively in radio, theatre, television and film. She is best known for her film performance portraying the wife of aviator Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in Smithy (1946) and for playing the lead role in Autumn Affair (1958–59), Australia's first television soap opera.
The Fire on the Snow is a 1941 Australian verse play by Douglas Stewart about the Terra Nova Expedition to Antarctica by Robert Falcon Scott. It premiered on ABC radio on 6 June 1941 to great acclaim and inspired a series of Australian verse dramas on ABC radio.
Ned Kelly is a 1942 radio play by Douglas Stewart about the outlaw Ned Kelly.
The Highwayman is an Australian musical comedy with book, music and lyrics by Edmond Samuels. Set in Bendigo during the Gold Rush in the 1860s, the story concerns the love of an innkeeper's daughter for a highwayman.
Marjorie Anne Hesse was an Australian pianist, lecturer, examiner, and composer.
Patrick "Pat" Caplice is an Australian jazz musician.
Charmian Gadd OAM (b.1942) is an Australian violinist and teacher.
Leone "Billie" Stredwick (1928-2004) was an Australian pianist.
Daybreak is a 1938 Australian play by Catherine Shepherd.
Silver Ridge is a 1954 Australian adventure radio series by Max Afford. It was set in Australia at a time when that was relatively rare. The serial was one of Afford's last productions prior to his death in 1954.