John Kennedy (30 December 19229 February 1980) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

cellist who had significant associations with

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, where he worked in the latter part of his life and where he died. He was the father of the violinist

Nigel Kennedy Nigel Kennedy (born 28 December 1956) is an English violinist and violist. His early career was primarily spent performing classical music, and he has since expanded into jazz, klezmer, and other music genres. Early life and background Kenn ...

. John Kennedy was born in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. His parents were Australians, the cellist

Lauri Kennedy Lauri Kennedy ( Irvine Robert Laurie Kennedy; 5 July 1896 26 April 1985) was an Australian cellist. Early life Irvine Robert Laurie Kennedy (he used Laurie, later dropping the final 'e') was born in Randwick, New South Wales, Randwick, a subur ...

and the pianist Dorothy Kennedy. He studied at the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is the oldest conservatoire in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the first Duke of ...

(RAM). At age 24, he became first cello with the

Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra Royal Liverpool Philharmonic is a music organisation based in Liverpool, England, that manages a professional symphony orchestra, a concert venue, and extensive programmes of learning through music. Its orchestra, the Royal Liverpool Philharmon ...

, making him the youngest principal in

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. He joined the

Sydney Symphony Orchestra The Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO) is an Australian symphony orchestra that was initially formed in 1908. Since its opening in 1973, the Sydney Opera House has been its home concert hall. Simone Young is the orchestra's chief conductor and firs ...

in 1949, as principal, where he performed as soloist in such works as the

Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

Cello Concerto A cello concerto (sometimes called a violoncello concerto) is a concerto for solo cello with orchestra or, very occasionally, smaller groups of instruments. These pieces have been written since the Baroque era if not earlier. However, unlike instru ...

under

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...

. He taught at the

New South Wales Conservatorium of Music The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music and known by the moniker "The Con") is a heritage-listed music school in Macquarie Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the ol ...

for two years and appeared in concerts for

Musica Viva Australia Musica Viva was founded in 1945 by Romanian-born violinist Richard Goldner, with the aim of bringing chamber music to Australia. The co-founder was a German-born musicologist, Walter Dullo. At its inception, Musica Viva was a string ensemble perf ...

. In 1952, he toured

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

as part of the Llewellyn-Kennedy Piano Trio with the violinist

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, t ...

and the pianist Scylla Stoner - who was billed as "Scylla Kennedy", John's first wife. He returned to the UK, where he was principal cello at

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

. He later became the principal cellist with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

under Sir

Thomas Beecham Sir Thomas Beecham, 2nd Baronet, Order of the Companions of Honour, CH (29 April 18798 March 1961) was an English conductor and impresario best known for his association with the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London Philharmonic and the Roya ...

. He was the first person to perform a cello concerto at the

Edinburgh Festival __NOTOC__ This is a list of arts and cultural festivals regularly taking place in Edinburgh, Scotland. The city has become known for its festivals since the establishment in 1947 of the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Fe ...

. He returned to Australia as senior cello lecturer at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

Conservatorium. When he left the UK, he ended his marriage with Scylla Stoner. When they divorced he was not aware that Scylla was pregnant by him, and she later gave birth to his son, the violinist

(born 28 December 1956). His mother wanted to teach Nigel to play a string instrument, but ahe chose the violin because she did not want a cello in the house as a reminder of John Kennedy. John and Nigel Kennedy did not meet until Nigel was 11. John married the Welsh soprano Joan Dargavel, and had more children (Nigel’s half-siblings), including the bassist

Debbie Kennedy Debbie (or Debby or Deb) is a feminine given name, commonly but not always short for Deborah (or Debra and related variants). Notable people *Debbie Allen, American actress, choreographer and film director *Debbie Armstrong, American athlete *De ...

and the cellist Laurien Kennedy, who won the 1978 ABC Young Performers Award. John and Joan divorced in 1975. He had a fourth child in 1976, violinist, Erica Kennedy (1st violinist in the Flinders String Quartet). He continued teaching, playing, and broadcasting in Australia until he retired in 1979 due to ill health. John Kennedy died of chronic liver disease in 1980, at Box Hill, Melbourne.

References

Sources

Nigel Kennedy: I didn’t want to be the Des O’Connor of the violin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kennedy, John 1922 births 1980 deaths Musicians from London British classical cellists 20th-century classical musicians 20th-century English musicians British expatriates in Australia 20th-century cellists