Peter David Hensman Godfrey (3 April 1922 – 28 September 2017) was an English-born

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

choral conductor. He was Professor of Music at the

University of Auckland The University of Auckland (; Māori: ''Waipapa Taumata Rau'') is a public research university based in Auckland, New Zealand. The institution was established in 1883 as a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. Initially loc ...

and conducted numerous choirs including the Dorian Choir in Auckland, choirs of St Mary's Cathedral and Holy Trinity Cathedral in Auckland and the

Wellington Cathedral of St Paul The Wellington Cathedral of St Paul, also called St Paul's Cathedral or Wellington Cathedral, is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral Church (building), church located on Hill Street, at its junction with Molesworth Street, Wellington, Molesworth ...

, the University of Auckland Festival Choir, Auckland University Singers, the Orpheus Choir in Wellington and the

New Zealand Youth Choir The New Zealand Youth Choir is a mixed choir consisting of around 50 singers, auditioned nationally every 3 years from around New Zealand. The choir accepts members aged between 18 and 25 at the time of audition, and places will generally be off ...

Early life and education

Born in

Bluntisham Bluntisham is a village and civil parish in Cambridgeshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,003. Bluntisham lies approximately east of Huntingdon. Bluntisham is situated within Huntingdonshire wh ...

in 1922, Godfrey began his musical career at age nine as a chorister in the King's College Chapel Choir at

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. After secondary school at

Denstone College Denstone College is a co-educational, private, boarding and day school in Denstone, Uttoxeter, Staffordshire, England. It is a Woodard School, having been founded by Nathaniel Woodard, and so Christian traditions are practised as part of Coll ...

, he studied music at King's, where he was also a bass scholar in the choir. He gained a

MusB A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or music school, conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performa ...

in 1943, a BA in 1946 and MA in 1951.

Career in England

Godfrey served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in the

King's African Rifles The King's African Rifles (KAR) was a British Colonial Auxiliary Forces regiment raised from Britain's East African colonies in 1902. It primarily carried out internal security duties within these colonies along with military service elsewher ...

from 1942 to 1945. After the war he attended the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) 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 pe ...

then took up teaching positions including

Marlborough College Marlborough College is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school (English private boarding school) for pupils aged 13 to 18 in Marlborough, Wiltshire, England. It was founded as Marlborough School in 1843 by the Dean of Manchester, George ...

where he was Director of Music from 1954 to 1958.

Career in New Zealand

In 1958 he emigrated to New Zealand to become music director at St Mary's Cathedral and Holy Trinity Cathedral and lecturer in music at the University of Auckland. He was Professor at the university from 1974 to 1982. On becoming a Professor he gave up conducting at the Cathedral due to the workload. From 1959 to 1968 he conducted the Auckland String Players which became the Auckland Symphonia. He conducted the Dorian Choir from 1961 to 1983, taking the choir on tours to Europe in 1975 and 1977, where they performed at the

BBC Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

and at the

Three Choirs Festival 200px, Worcester cathedral 200px, Gloucester cathedral The Three Choirs Festival is a music festival held annually at the end of July, rotating among the cathedrals of the Three Counties (Hereford, Gloucester, and Worcester) and originally fe ...

. Godfrey formed the University of Auckland Festival Choir in 1970 to represent New Zealand at the third International University Choral Festival in New York in 1972. After the choir's tour he renamed the choir the Auckland University Singers, taking them on tour to Australia in 1974. He conducted the choir until 1978 and was succeeded by Peter Watts and

Karen Grylls Karen Lesley Grylls (born 9 July 1951) is a New Zealand choral conductor. She is an associate professor in choral conducting at the University of Auckland and founder of Voices New Zealand Chamber Choir. Early life and education Grylls was ...

. In 1978 he returned to King's College for four months, arranging a swap with King's director of music

Philip Ledger Sir Philip Stevens Ledger, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE, FRSE (12 December 1937 – 18 November 2012) was an English classical musician, conducting, choirmaster and academic, best remembered as Director of the Choir of King' ...

who came to Auckland. This was the first time since the 16th century that someone had been a chorister, choral scholar and director of the choir at King's. On moving to live in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

in 1983 he conducted the choir of Wellington Cathedral of St Paul from 1983 to 1989 and the Orpheus Choir from 1984 to 1991. From 1982 to 1988 Godfrey conducted the

. He took the choir to the International Festival of Youth and Music in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

in 1988 where they won the Best Choir award. He founded the New Zealand Choral Federation in 1985. In 1989 he was invited to take up a two year position as Director of Music at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

from 1990 to 1991. On his retirement to

Waikanae Waikanae (, ) is a town on the Kāpiti Coast, north of the Wellington, New Zealand. The name is a Māori language, Māori word meaning "waters" (''wai'') "of the flathead grey mullet, grey mullet". The area surrounding the town is notable fo ...

in 1992 he conducted the Kāpiti Chamber Choir and the Kāpiti Chorale as well as playing the organ and conducting the choir at St Michael's Church in Waikanae.

Honours and awards

Godfrey was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

in the

1978 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 1978 were appointments in many of the Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries, to celebrate the year passed and mark the begin ...

, and promoted to Commander of the same order in the

1988 Birthday Honours Queen's Birthday Honours are announced on or around the date of the Queen's Official Birthday in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The dates vary, both from year to year and from country to country. All are published in sup ...

, both for services to music. In 2005, he received a

Arts Foundation of New Zealand The Arts Foundation of New Zealand Te Tumu Toi is a New Zealand arts organisation that supports artistic excellence and facilitates private philanthropy through raising funds for the arts and allocating it to New Zealand artists. The foundatio ...

Icon Award.

Legacy

Godfrey had a significant influence on the development and growth of choral music in New Zealand. He has been called "the 'father' of NZ choral music". Godfrey died on 28 September 2017. Godfrey was the grandfather of New Zealand jazz musician and broadcaster Nick Tipping.

References

External links

Peter Godfrey (1922–2017)
on

RNZ Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classica ...

. Interview with Peter Godfrey recorded on his 80th birthday
Peter Godfrey Collection
at the

Alexander Turnbull Library The National Library of New Zealand () is charged with the obligation to "enrich the cultural and economic life of New Zealand and its interchanges with other nations" (National Library of New Zealand (Te Puna Mātauranga) Act 2003). Under the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godfrey, Peter 1922 births 2017 deaths Choral Scholars of the Choir of King's College, Cambridge People educated at Denstone College New Zealand musicians New Zealand choral conductors English choral conductors Academic staff of the University of Auckland Alumni of King's College, Cambridge People from Bluntisham English emigrants to New Zealand Officers of the Order of the British Empire Military personnel from Cambridgeshire King's African Rifles officers British military personnel of World War II