Joan Hammond
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Dame Joan Hammond, DBE CMG, (24 May 1912 - 26 November 1996) was a New Zealand-born Australian soprano, singing coach and golfer.
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[edit] Early Biography
Born as Joan Hilda Hood in Christchurch, New Zealand, she studied violin and singing at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music in Sydney. Hammond also played violin for three years with the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra before studying singing in Vienna in 1936.
[edit] Golfer
She won the women's state golf championship for New South Wales in 1932, 1934, 1935 and the junior championship in 1929.
[edit] Opera
Accomplished in many fields, it was singing that was Joan Hammond's passion. An encounter with Lady Gowrie, the wife of the then Governor of New South Wales, Lord Gowrie, made the young Joan Hood's dreams of studying in Europe possible. Joan often referred to Lady Gowrie as her "guardian angel". Hood's fellow golfers in New South Wales raised enough money for her to leave Australia in 1936 to study in Vienna. In addition to studying in Vienna, she studied with Dino Borgioli in London. She toured widely, and became noted particularly for her Puccini roles. She later became a renowned singing teacher.
She returned to Australia for concert tours in 1946, 1949 and 1953, and completed world concert tours between 1946 and 1961. After retiring in 1965, Hammond became artistic director of the Victorian State Opera (1971-1976) and was then head of vocal studies and vocal consultant at the Victorian College of the Arts from 1975 to 1992. Her autobiography, A Voice, a Life was published in 1970.
Joan Hammond appeared in the major opera houses of the world - Covent Garden, La Scala, the Vienna State Opera and the Bolshoi. Her fame in Britain came not just from her stage appearances but from her recordings. She made famous the aria O mio babbino caro from Puccini's opera Gianni Schicchi. Recorded in English under the title O My Beloved Father, it earned Hammond a gold record award in 1969. Her recording of O, Silver Moon from Dvořák's Rusalka was also a huge seller. A prolific and diverse recording artist, Joan Hammond's repertoire encompassed Verdi, Dvořák, Handel, Puccini, Tchaikovsky, Massenet, Beethoven, folk song, art song and lieder.
[edit] Heart attack
A heart attack in 1965 forced her to retire. It was then she turned to teaching and she was Head of Voice at the Victorian College of the Arts from 1975 to 1992. In that time she trained an extraordinary number of Australian singers who have since made Australian and international careers. Dame Joan hoped for an opera company which would employ Australians in their own country. She was instrumental in making that happen and worked tirelessly to ensure that both the Australian Opera and the Victoria State Opera, of both of which she was a lifetime member, survived and flourished. (In the year of her death, the Victoria State Opera experienced acute financial difficulties, and 'merged' with the Australian Opera, which was then re-named Opera Australia. Following years of distress and some legal action arising from the demise of the Victorian company, another state-funded company, Victorian Opera, was created and had its first performance in Melbourne at Hamer Hall in July 2006).
[edit] Honours
In the Queens Birthday Honours of 1953, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her singing [1]. In the Queens Birthday Honours of 1963 she was promoted to Commander (CBE) [2]. In the Queens Birthday Honours of 1974 she was further promoted within the order to Dame Commander (DBE) for distinguished services to singing [3].
In the New Years Day Honours of 1972 she was made a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to young opera singers [4].
[edit] Death
She died in 1996 in Bowral, New South Wales and is buried in the Bowral General Cemetery.
Hammond's final performance was at the funeral of her own "guardian angel", Lady Gowrie, who had helped Hammond fulfill her own dream.
[edit] Literature and Sources
- D. Brook, Singers of Today (Revised Edition - Rockliff, London 1958), 104-109.
