Olive Smith (19 June 1906 – 12 September 1993) was a lifelong campaigner on behalf of

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" also ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. She co-founded the

Music Association of Ireland The Music Association of Ireland (MAI) was set up in 1948 to improve the position of classical music within the cultural life of Ireland. It was instrumental in setting up the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland and played a leading role in the lo ...

, was the first director of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, and was a conductor of the Olivian Singers and the Culwick Choral Society.

Early life

Born Mabel Olive Richardson, she was the third daughter of a

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

merchant, Charles E. Richardson and his wife, Alice Maud Metcalfe. The family lived in Rathgar. Olive was educated at Alexandra College and Trinity College Dublin. In 1932, she married Lyall Gilchrist Smith, a chemist.Simon Taylor, "Smith, (Mabel) Olive", ''Dictionary of Irish Biography'', retrieved 27 June 2011
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Career in music

Smith combined her full-time job as an administrator in Trinity College with her voluntary work in a variety of roles in Ireland's musical life. In 1948, Smith co-founded the

and became its first treasurer. Over the following three decades, she held in turn each position on the MAI's management committee, including chairman, and was responsible for many of the association's initiatives to promote classical music, especially among young people. In July 1978, after her term as chairman had ended, Smith was awarded an honorary doctorate by Trinity College, Dublin, in recognition of her "devoted service to the Music Association of Ireland". In May 1957, Smith founded the Olivian Singers, a female choir, which she conducted at their inaugural concert on January 6, 1958, in Alexandra College. In March 1963, the Olivian Singers participated in the first performance in Ireland of

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976, aged 63) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, other ...

's ''

War Requiem The ''War Requiem'', Op. 66, is a large-scale setting of the Requiem composed by Benjamin Britten mostly in 1961 and completed in January 1962. The ''War Requiem'' was performed for the consecration of the new Coventry Cathedral, which was b ...

'', which took place in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin. For several years in the early-1960s, Smith was also chorus mistress of th
Culwick Choral Society
a Dublin choir founded in 1898. She was succeeded in that role by

Seóirse Bodley Seóirse Bodley (first name pronounced ; born 4 April 1933) is an Irish composer and former associate professor of music at University College Dublin (UCD). He was the first composer to become a Saoi of Aosdána, in 2008. Bodley is widely regarde ...

. In 1970, Smith and violinist Hugh Maguire founded the Irish Youth Orchestra (now the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland). She was the orchestra's first director until her retirement from that position in 1982. Smith was appointed to the Cultural Relations Committee in January 1982. Set up in 1949, the committee advised the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the administration of funds allocated for the development of cultural relations with other countries.

Personal life

Smith's husband, Lyall, predeceased her in January 1969. They had a daughter, Gillian. Olive Smith died in Highfield Private Hospital aged 87 and is buried in Enniskerry churchyard.''The Irish Times'', p. 24, 14 September 1993

Early life

Career in music

Personal life

Sources

Further reading