Renna Manduell

British pianist, music teacher and festival director Renna Kellaway was born on 18 October 1934 in Durban, South Africa, where she made her debut in Durban City Hall, aged thirteen. She studied with Johannes Röntgen in Amsterdam and Franz Osborn in London.

She toured internationally, performing, giving masterclasses and serving on the jury of piano competitions. She was director of the Dartington Summer Music School in Devon, UK for a number of years.

She taught at the Birmingham School of Music - now the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire, which has established a Renna Kellaway Piano Prize. Later she taught at the Royal Northern College of Music, where she became head of music studies and founded the Glories of the Keyboard Festival.

She moved to North Yorkshire with her husband, the composer and teacher John Manduell. She founded the Lake District Summer Music Festival in 1985 and was the festival's artistic director for thirty-five years.

Renna Manduell died in High Bentham, North Yorkshire on 27 April 2024, aged eighty-nine.

 

A selection of articles about Renna Manduell

Classical music news - April 2024 Obituaries - Our summary of those the classical music world has lost this month