Iris Gwendolyne M. Loveridge (10 April 1917 – 6 November 2000) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

classical pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

. Born in

West Ham West Ham is an area in East London, located east of Charing Cross in the west of the modern London Borough of Newham. The area, which lies immediately to the north of the River Thames and east of the River Lea, was originally an ancient ...

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

, she attended the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performanc ...

, and later the Royal Academy. She specialised in British contemporary music, including piano sonatas by

Arnold Bax Sir Arnold Edward Trevor Bax, (8 November 1883 – 3 October 1953) was an English composer, poet, and author. His prolific output includes songs, choral music, chamber pieces, and solo piano works, but he is best known for his orchestral musi ...

Gordon Jacob Gordon Percival Septimus Jacob CBE (5 July 18958 June 1984) was an English composer and teacher. He was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London from 1924 until his retirement in 1966, and published four books and many articles about ...

(of which she was the dedicatee),

E. J. Moeran } Ernest John Smeed Moeran (31 December 1894 – 1 December 1950) was an English composer of part-Irish extraction, whose work was strongly influenced by English and Irish folk music of which he was an assiduous collector. His output includes or ...

and

Edmund Rubbra Edmund Rubbra (; 23 May 190114 February 1986) was a British composer. He composed both instrumental and vocal works for soloists, chamber groups and full choruses and orchestras. He was greatly esteemed by fellow musicians and was at the peak o ...

. In 1947 she also gave the UK premiere of

William Schuman William Howard Schuman (August 4, 1910February 15, 1992) was an American composer and arts administrator. Life Schuman was born into a Jewish family in Manhattan, New York City, son of Samuel and Rachel Schuman. He was named after the 27th U.S. ...

's Piano Concerto with the

BBC Symphony Orchestra The BBC Symphony Orchestra (BBC SO) is a British orchestra based in London. Founded in 1930, it was the first permanent salaried orchestra in London, and is the only one of the city's five major symphony orchestras not to be self-governing. T ...

under

Basil Cameron Basil Cameron, CBE (18 August 1884 – 26 June 1975) was an English conductor. Early career He was born Basil George Cameron HindenbergW.L. Jacob, "Hindenburg v. Cameron" (Letter to the Editor) (1991). ''The Musical Times'', 132 (1782), p. ...

.Biography on musicweb.com
/ref> She also performed in duet with the oboist Evelyn Rothwell (Lady Barbirolli). In addition, she made appearances at the

Henry Wood Proms The BBC Proms or Proms, formally named the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts Presented by the BBC, is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert H ...

. She retired professionally in 1995. Her recordings of Bax's piano works (not quite a complete survey of his piano output, though most of his pieces for the instrument are represented) were recently re-issued on CD by

Lyrita Lyrita is a British classical music record label, specializing in the works of British composers. Lyrita began releasing LPs in October 1959 as Lyrita Recorded Edition for sale by mail order subscription. The founder of the company, Richard ...

Records. She married Henry Morriss in 1966, but continued to perform under her maiden name. Henry died in 1995. Iris Loveridge died in Gloucester.Index of Deaths for England and Wales, November 2000, Register A64, district & subdistrict 4831A, Entry 1

References

1917 births 2000 deaths People from West Ham Alumni of the Royal College of Music English classical pianists English women pianists 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century English musicians 20th-century English women musicians Women classical pianists 20th-century women pianists {{UK-classical-pianist-stub