About Wyvern
History
Our Mission Statement is: "Sharing the enjoyment of live music and encouraging Australian talent."
Wyvern Music Forestville is a not-for-profit organisation affiliated with the Federated Music Clubs of Australia NSW Council Inc.
Wyvern Music Club was first established in 1953 as Newington College Music Group, an offshoot of the Parents and Friends’ Association of Newington College at Stanmore. It was affiliated with The Federated Music Clubs of Australia which had formed in 1928. In January, 1976 Newington College Music Group changed its name to “Wyvern Music Club-Lindfield” and would hold four “musicales” a year at Newington Preparatory School, Lindfield and one annual concert at Willoughby Town Hall combined with four other Music Clubs (Lane Cove, Manly, Mosman and Roseville). The Wyvern name came from the wyvern symbol in the Newington School logo.
In 2004, the decision was taken to relocate the concerts to Forestville to meet the needs of a new generation of classical music-lovers in that area. Wyvern Music Club became known as Wyvern Music Forestville. The concerts were held at Forestville Uniting Church until 2010 and from 2011 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church Forestville. In July 2010 Wyvern Music launched its fundraising effort to purchase a grand piano with the Reg Marsh Memorial Piano Fund Piano Gala concert performed by pianists Simon Tedeschi and Stephen Whale, with violinist Marina Marsden. This was followed by a Buy-a-Key donation incentive through the FMCA PATIM Fund and a fundraising piano recital by Gerard Willems AM in 2011. In early 2013 a Yamaha C3 piano was successfully purchased through Theme & Variations Piano Services and given its inaugural performance for WMF at OLGC Catholic Church by Philip Shovk.
Over the 64 years since the Club’s foundation, Wyvern has featured many well-known Australian musicians. In the early years these included the composer-pianists Frank Hutchens OBE, Lindley Evans, Larry Sitsky AO, Miriam Hyde AO OBE and Dulcie Holland AM, operatic soprano Marilyn Richardson, violinists Errol Collins, Errol Russel and Mary Nemet, and pianists Isador Goodman AM, Dorothy White, Erika Booker, Werner Baer, Beryl Potter and Sonya Hanke. Many young talented instrumentalists were given performance opportunities at Wyvern, including violinists Natalie Chee, Richard Tognetti AO, Asmira Woodward-Page and Nicholas Milton AM and pianists Duncan Gifford, Michael Kieran Harvey, Tamara Cislowski, Grace Kim and Philip Shovk. Prominent former and current members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra such as violinists Goetz Richter, Kirsten Williams and Marina Marsden, clarinettist Anne Menzies, bassoonist John Cran, oboist Shefali Pryor, violist Justine Marsden, flautist Janet Webb and trumpeter Paul Goodchild as well as eminent Sydney Conservatorium (University of Sydney) lecturers such as pianists Gerard Willems AM, Daniel Herscovitch, David Miller AM, Dr Jeanell Carrigan and Clemens Leske, cellist Georg Pedersen and clarinettist Mark Walton have also performed over the years for Wyvern.
During the Wyvern-Lindfield era, students from the Sydney Conservatorium under the direction of David Miller AM performed regularly. Wyvern Music Forestville has continued the support of emerging artists with an annual performance by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellows under the Artistic Leadership of Roger Benedict
Wyvern Music Forestville is a not-for-profit organisation affiliated with the Federated Music Clubs of Australia NSW Council Inc.
Wyvern Music Club was first established in 1953 as Newington College Music Group, an offshoot of the Parents and Friends’ Association of Newington College at Stanmore. It was affiliated with The Federated Music Clubs of Australia which had formed in 1928. In January, 1976 Newington College Music Group changed its name to “Wyvern Music Club-Lindfield” and would hold four “musicales” a year at Newington Preparatory School, Lindfield and one annual concert at Willoughby Town Hall combined with four other Music Clubs (Lane Cove, Manly, Mosman and Roseville). The Wyvern name came from the wyvern symbol in the Newington School logo.
In 2004, the decision was taken to relocate the concerts to Forestville to meet the needs of a new generation of classical music-lovers in that area. Wyvern Music Club became known as Wyvern Music Forestville. The concerts were held at Forestville Uniting Church until 2010 and from 2011 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church Forestville. In July 2010 Wyvern Music launched its fundraising effort to purchase a grand piano with the Reg Marsh Memorial Piano Fund Piano Gala concert performed by pianists Simon Tedeschi and Stephen Whale, with violinist Marina Marsden. This was followed by a Buy-a-Key donation incentive through the FMCA PATIM Fund and a fundraising piano recital by Gerard Willems AM in 2011. In early 2013 a Yamaha C3 piano was successfully purchased through Theme & Variations Piano Services and given its inaugural performance for WMF at OLGC Catholic Church by Philip Shovk.
Over the 64 years since the Club’s foundation, Wyvern has featured many well-known Australian musicians. In the early years these included the composer-pianists Frank Hutchens OBE, Lindley Evans, Larry Sitsky AO, Miriam Hyde AO OBE and Dulcie Holland AM, operatic soprano Marilyn Richardson, violinists Errol Collins, Errol Russel and Mary Nemet, and pianists Isador Goodman AM, Dorothy White, Erika Booker, Werner Baer, Beryl Potter and Sonya Hanke. Many young talented instrumentalists were given performance opportunities at Wyvern, including violinists Natalie Chee, Richard Tognetti AO, Asmira Woodward-Page and Nicholas Milton AM and pianists Duncan Gifford, Michael Kieran Harvey, Tamara Cislowski, Grace Kim and Philip Shovk. Prominent former and current members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra such as violinists Goetz Richter, Kirsten Williams and Marina Marsden, clarinettist Anne Menzies, bassoonist John Cran, oboist Shefali Pryor, violist Justine Marsden, flautist Janet Webb and trumpeter Paul Goodchild as well as eminent Sydney Conservatorium (University of Sydney) lecturers such as pianists Gerard Willems AM, Daniel Herscovitch, David Miller AM, Dr Jeanell Carrigan and Clemens Leske, cellist Georg Pedersen and clarinettist Mark Walton have also performed over the years for Wyvern.
During the Wyvern-Lindfield era, students from the Sydney Conservatorium under the direction of David Miller AM performed regularly. Wyvern Music Forestville has continued the support of emerging artists with an annual performance by the Sydney Symphony Orchestra Fellows under the Artistic Leadership of Roger Benedict
History Updated on the 26th September 2017
