John Bishop

Lionel Albert Jack (John) Bishop (26 October 1903 in Adelaide-December 1964 in London) was an Australian academic, conductor and patron of the arts. Bishop played a leading role in the development of music education in Australia and was a founder of the Adelaide Festival of Arts.

Bishop studied piano from the age of 12 under the tutorage of distinguished Adelaide teacher William Silver. In 1919, he won the Alexander Clark Scholarship to the Elder Conservatorium, and in 1923, he won the South Australian Elder Scholarship to the Royal College of Music in London. At the College, Bishop studied conducting in addition to furthering his piano ability. His first appointment as a conductor came in 1928 for the Royal Wellington Choral Union and Wellington Philharmonic Orchestra in New Zealand.

He returned to Australia in 1936 to take up a position as Director of Music at the Scotch College in Melbourne. From 1940-1947 he was conductor of the Melbourne University Conservatorium Orchestra. His involvement with music in Victoria led him to become the first president of the Victorian School Music Association. From 1948, with the co-operation of fellow music teacher, Ruth Alexander, he organised summer music camps for young musicians. In 1954, he founded the National Music Camp Association and was subsequently responsible for the establishment of the Australian Youth Orchestra in 1957.

In 1948, Bishop became a Professor of Music at the University of Adelaide, where he reformed the curriculum and faculty, and set up a visiting lectureship programme. He formed a partnership with Sir Lloyd Dumas in the late 1950s to help found a major arts event in South Australia. He was instrumental in the establishment of the Adelaide Festival of Arts and became its inaugural arts director in 1960. Bishop continued in this position until his death in 1964; he died suddenly in the foyer of Australia House in London of hypertensive cardiovascular disease on 14 December. His involvement in the arts also included his positions as Chairman of the UNESCO Committee for Music and as Federal President of the Arts Council of Australia.

References

*cite web|url=http://www.adelaide.edu.au/library/special/bishop.html |title=Papers of Professor John Bishop, 1903-1964 |accessmonthday=August 17 |accessyear=2006 |date=2006-08-16 |publisher=University of Adelaide
*cite web|url=http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A130222b.htm |author=Alan Brissenden |last=Brissenden |first=Alan |title=Bishop, Lionel Albert Jack (John) (1903 - 1964) |accessmonthday=September 13 |accessyear=2006 |date=1993 |pages=pp 187-189 |work=Australian Dictionary of Biography |publisher=Melbourne University Press

Further reading

*Hewlett, Awdry; "Cause to rejoice: the life of John Bishop", 1 v, Rigby, 1973.
*Symons, Christopher; "John Bishop: a life for music", 1 v, Hyland House, 1989.