Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship

Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship may refer to any of several prizes awarded by the great soprano or in her name.

London

In 1911 Melba donated a scholarship of £30 tenable at the Guildhall School of Music for one year's tuition, at least partly as a tribute to her friend the conductor Landon Ronald, who had recently taken over as a principal of the School. The scholarship would be awarded by competition, open to sopranos aged between 16 and 22, of which there were around forty candidates, most already Guildhall students.[1] The Guildhall School of Music was at the time competing for students with the Royal Academy of Music and the Royal College of Music.

Among successful candidates were:

• 1912 Dora Briscoe[2]
• 1915 Dorothy Waring[3]

Melbourne

The first Australian Melba Scholarship, organised by the ANA, was a vocal scholarship of £30, of which £10 was provided by Dame Nellie and the remainder by Warrnambool local interests.[4]

• 1908 Elsie (later Elsa) Warman

Albert Street Conservatorium

A scholarship, valued at 75 guineas, tenable for two years' tuition at the Albert Street Conservatorium, was inaugurated in 1916.

• 1916 Doris L. Leech[5]

Nathalie Muir won an exhibition and Ruby Croft an honorable mention, though subsequent reports claim both these contestants as prizewinners.

• 1919 Eileen Mary Starr[6]
• 1921 Marie Bremner[7]
• 1924 Alma O'Dea
• 1927 Victoria Wilson won "special Melba scholarship" later Mrs Schleebs
• 1930 Mary Pitman, later, as Margaret Pitman, embroiled in dispute over her mother's will.[8]

Melba died in 1931 leaving, inter alia, £8,000 to the Albert Street Conservatorium to provide a continuing scholarship. Much was expended in settling points of law regarding the setting up and administration of the bequest.[9][10]

Henceforth called Melba Bequest Scholarship, open to women of 17 years or older, any voice, trained or untrained.

• 1935 Hinemoa Rosieur (N.Z.)
• 1937 Jean Love (Vic.)
• 1940 Sybil Willey (Qld.)
• 1943 Elsie Morison (Vic.)
• 1946 Beryl Jones (declined) Sylvia Biddle (Qld.)(accepted)
• 1949 Joyce Simmons (Vic.)[11]
• 1952 Jean Munro (Qld.)
• 1958 Aldene Splatt (Vic.)
• 1962 Elizabeth Tippett (Vic.)
• 1965 Margot Cory (Vic.)[12]

Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music

(from 1956 the renamed Albert Street Conservatorium)

may include

• Victor Olof, violinist
• Patrick Roberts, violinist

Melba Opera Trust

Took over from Melba Memorial Conservatorium in 2008

• 2009, 2010 Stephanie Gibson[13]
• 2010 Janet Todd[14]

2010 Jacqueline Porter[13]

• 2011, 2012 Lauren Fagan[13]
• 2013 Emily Edmonds[13]
• 2014, 2015 Jade Moffat[13] mezzo-soprano[15]
• 2016, 2017 Zoe Drummond[16][13]
• 2018 Jessica Harper[13] soprano[17]
• 2019 Tessa Hayward[13][18]
• 2020 Rebecca Hart[13] mezzo-soprano[19]
• 2021 Katherine Allen[13]

Elsewhere

Artists claimed to have won a Melba scholarship, for which no further information has been found, include

• Dora Labbette "studied with Lisa Lehmann on a Melba Scholarship" — Oxford Reference
• Mabel Gibson
• Anona Winn (born Anona Edna Wilkins)

References

1. "Lady's Letter from London". The Australasian. Vol. XC, no. 2, 360. Victoria, Australia. 24 June 1911. p. 55. Retrieved 29 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "Crotchets & Quavers". The Sun (Sydney). No. 475. New South Wales, Australia. 5 May 1912. p. 9. Retrieved 29 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
3. "Leading Lady of 19". The Bathurst Times. New South Wales, Australia. 22 March 1915. p. 3. Retrieved 29 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Warrnambool Competitions". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 19, 189. Victoria, Australia. 18 January 1908. p. 16. Retrieved 30 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
5. "Melba Scholarship". The Sun (Sydney). No. 1972. New South Wales, Australia. 23 October 1916. p. 3. Retrieved 29 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
6. "Young Singer". The Sun (Sydney). No. 2793. New South Wales, Australia. 14 June 1919. p. 1. Retrieved 29 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "Winner of Scholarship". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 14, 106. Victoria, Australia. 31 May 1921. p. 11. Retrieved 29 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
8. "Girl Alleged To Have Had Visions". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 17, 820. Victoria, Australia. 27 June 1934. p. 5. Retrieved 30 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
9. "Melba's Will". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 17, 652. Victoria, Australia. 11 December 1933. p. 12. Retrieved 29 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
10. "Melba Singing Scholarship". The Herald (Melbourne). No. 17, 772. Victoria, Australia. 2 May 1934. p. 7. Retrieved 30 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
11. "Dandenong Festival Winner Takes Melba Scholarship". The Dandenong Journal. Vol. 88, no. 7. Victoria, Australia. 16 February 1949. p. 4. Retrieved 30 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
12. Barbara Mackenzie; Findlay Mackenzie. Singers of Australia. Lansdowne. p. 287.
13. "Melba Opera trust: Alumni". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
14. "Heroines and Angels (programme)" (PDF). Retrieved 30 July 2022.
15. "Jade Moffatt". Mietta Foundation. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
16. "Opera Australia:Zoe Drummond". Retrieved 30 July 2022.
17. "Jessica Harper" (PDF). Melba Opera Trust. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
18. "Young Artists:Tessa Hayward". Pacific Opera. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
19. "Opera in the Garden". Cloudhill. 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2022.