Composer Praised

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31520, 7 November 1967, Page 13

Composer Praised

Gillian Whitehead, a young J-., New Zealand composer whose J works were recently played in fl Washington by the pianist, g Tess Bimie, received praise S from Washington critics last 11 month. James Bachas of the “Washr,s ington Evening Star” said: “Whitehead’s Fantasy on ; Three Notes was very effec- , : tive—an apparently serial «« technique resulting in a strong sense of tonality. This was a premiere performance ’ ‘ of this work, the first four ”, pieces for piano commissioned M si “ by the Australian Society for Keyboard Music. It Is solid g composition well worth hear- ® ing.” ■ Charles Crowder of the

"Washington Post” could not decide which was more interesting—the Whitehead piece, or the playing of New Zea-land-born Tess Bimie. “The Whitehead piece is quixotic in mood, shifting in sonorities and in the process using the keyboard quite adroitly,” he wrote. Miss Whitehead, aged 26, who studied at both Wellington and Sydney Universities, is now living in London and composes piano, chamber, and choral music. Her work has been played and broadcast both in New Zealand and Australia, and she has been commissioned by Auckland Cathedral to write a setting of the new communion sendee.