Thérèse Radic (born 1935) is an Australian musicologist and playwright.

Early life and education

Maureen Therese O'Halloran was born in Footscray, Victoria in 1935 and grew up in Melbourne. She graduated from 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 ...

with a Bachelor of Music in 1959. She later completed a Master of Music (1969) and PhD (1978) at the same university.

Career

Radic's first play, ''Some of My Best Friends Are Women,'' was co-written with her husband, Leonard Radic. It was first performed by the Melbourne Theatre Company in 1983. When ''A Treasury of Favourite Australian Songs'' was published in the same year, reviewer Harry Black praised it for range of the bush songs included and for Radic's meticulous research into the origins of each song. Radic is the author of a biography of the violinist and conductor

Bernard Heinze Sir Bernard Thomas Heinze, AC (1 July 189410 June 1982) was an Australian conductor, academic, and Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music. He conducted all the orchestras run by the ABC, most particularly the Melbourne Sym ...

, which was published by Macmillan in 1986. ''Canberra Times'' critic W. L. Hoffmann considered it a "fascinating" but "somewhat one-sided" portrayal. Reviewing ''Melba – The Voice of Australia'' in the same article, Hoffmann described it as a "highly readable account of her life and successes, excellently documented, and with a number of fine illustrations." In 1994 Radic chaired "The Composing Women's Festival", a five-day event celebrating the musical contribution of Australian women composers. Several works were commissioned. In his preview, music critic Mike Daly reported that "16 concerts and recitals included classical, jazz, pop, electronic and experimental music, plus multi-media installations, demonstrations and conferences." Radic has contributed 18 biographies to the ''

Australian Dictionary of Biography The ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'' (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian National University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent people in Australia's ...

''.

Selected works

Books

* ''G.W.L. Marshall-Hall: Portrait Of A Lost Crusader'' (1982) * ''Melba: The Voice of Australia'' (1986) * ''Bernard Heinze'' (1986) * ''A Treasury of Favourite Australian Songs'' (1983; 2nd ed. 1988) * ''Songs of Australian Working Life'' (1989) * ''G.W.L. Marshall Hall: A Biography and Catalogue'' (2002) * ''Marshall-Hall’s Melbourne: Music, Art and Controversy 1891–1915,'' co-authored with Suzanne Robinson (2012) As editor: * ''Repercussions'' (1995) * ''The Playwrights' Handbook'' (1994; 2nd ed. 1997) * ''Race Against Time: The diaries of F.S.Kelly'' (2004)

Plays

* ''Some of My Best Friends Are Women,'' co-authored with Leonard Radic (1983) * ''A Whip Round for Percy Grainger'' (1984) * ''Cinders'' (1985) * ''Madame Mao'' (1986) * ''Peach Melba'' (1990) * ''The Emperor Regrets'' (1992) * ''A Committed Adultery'' (1992) * ''Shanghai Sisters'' (2000) * ''George and the Dragon'' (2004) * ''Cafe Scheherazade'' (2011)

Personal

Radic was married to Leonard Radic (1935–9 January 2018). Their son, Steve, is an artist.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Radic, Therese Australian biographers Australian women writers Australian musicologists 1935 births Living people University of Melbourne alumni Australian dramatists and playwrights Writers from Melbourne People from Footscray, Victoria