Douglas Lilburn
Douglas Lilburn, one of the pioneers of classical music in New Zealand, was born in Whanganui on 2 November 1915, and studied music and journalism in Christchurch.
In 1936 his tone poem Forest won the Percy Grainger Competition - the first of a series of prizes his music attracted. The following year he went to London to study with Vaughan Williams at the Royal College of Music.
The composer of symphonic and piano music, Lilburn was influenced by Sibelius and Vaughan Williams, and later by Stravinsky.
He taught at Victoria University and created and ran the electronic music studio there - the first of its kind in Australasia.
Douglas Lilburn died in Wellington on 6 June 2001, aged eighty-five.
A selection of articles about Douglas Lilburn
Echoes of Oblivion by Robert McCarney - A spot of circumnavigation on a Sunday afternoon
Classical music news. Obituary - Lyell Cresswell (1944-2022)
Chopin in the Boondocks - Stephen De Pledge returns to New Zealand, by Howard Smith
Record box. Normal accessibilities - Symphonies from New Zealand, considered by Basil Ramsey