- Leonard Dommett
Leonard Bertram Dommett OBE (21 December 1928 - 11 April 2006) was an
Australia n violinist and conductor.Biography
Leonard Dommett was born in
Toowoomba, Queensland , where his father ran a general store. His grandparents had performed professionally in concerts and summer entertainments in the beach towns of southern England, at whichCharlie Chaplin had once performed as a guest artist. He had four talented siblings: one brother played bassoon and saxophone; another became an actor; a sister was a pianist and she and Leonard often played together; and another sister was an actress.He first handled a violin at age 4. At age 14 he won the 1942 Queensland Eisteddfod Championship in violin playing. He was offered a scholarship to Trinity College at the London School of Music, but World War II prevented him accepting it. Instead, he went to the Conservatorium of Music at the
University of Melbourne , where the pianistMax Cooke became one of his closest friends.In 1949,
Marie Rambert brought her ballet to Australia, and she appointed Dommett as a solo violinist. He passed his first test, accompanying a ballet set toErnest Chausson 's "Poème". Rambert was so impressed that she made him her concert master, and later her conductor. He moved with the company to New Zealand and then to London. There he played with theLondon Symphony , London Philharmonic and Royal Philharmonic orchestras. He became assistant conductor at theRoyal Opera House ,Covent Garden .He returned to Australia in 1953, and played with the Queensland and Sydney symphony orchestras. In 1961 he became leader and later deputy conductor of the South Australian Symphony Orchestra. In 1965 he became concertmaster of the
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO), and later assistant conductor. He intermittently played with the London orchestras, but essentially remained in Melbourne till 1980. At a concert in Munich he received a standing ovation after playing the Violin Concerto byFelix Werder .After retirement from the MSO, he taught at the Canberra School of Music for the next two decades. Later he was music master and conductor at St Margaret's Girls School in Brisbane, where they performed Vivaldi's "
The Four Seasons " and Fauré's "Requiem" under his direction.Eight composers wrote violin concertos for Leonard Dommett. He did a great deal of recording, including 56 concertos, and a disc of Mozart violin sonatas with Max Cooke. He conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra in the premiere recording of
Malcolm Williamson 's Piano Concerto No. 3, with the composer as soloist.Honours and awards
*In 1977 he was appointed an Officer of the
Order of the British Empire (OBE). [ [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1109667&search_type=advanced&showInd=true It's an Honour: OBE] ]
*In 1993 he received the "SirBernard Heinze Award" for his contribution to Australian music.Personal
In 1954 he married Wanda Jones, and they had two children. In 1992 he married Ann Dolan and acquired two step-sons. They moved to
Bribie Island , where he played regularly in the local church, and where he died, aged 77, on 11 April 2006.References
ources
* Philip Jones, Obituary "A true professional with bow or baton", The Age, 4 May 2006
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