Maureen Lehane

Maureen Theresa Lehane Wishart (18 September 1932 – 27 December 2010) was an English mezzo-soprano singer, university lecturer and founder of the Great Elm Music Festival, Jackdaws Music Education Trust and an annual Vocal Award for young singers. She was known for her recordings and performances of Handel's operas.

She was married to the English composer Peter Wishart. They lived in Great Elm near Frome, Somerset.

Born in London, Maureen was the daughter of Christopher and Honor Lehane. The whole family were evacuated in World War II to Welwyn Garden City. They returned to London after the war, moving to Barnet.

Lehane married Peter Wishart on 26 May 1966. They lived and worked together until his death in 1984. Together they edited 3 volumes of Purcell song realisations, and she recorded a CD of his songs with pianist Alexander Kelly (BMS 409).

Maureen attended 'Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School for Girls' in Barnet. She is reported to have had a reciprocated dislike for the choir director there who refused to allow her into the choir on the grounds that she did not have a voice. Later in life, she gave a recital at the school and saw her former adversary in the front row.

Lehane's music tuition began with private lessons from Gordon Clinton, who also taught her father, in the Dinely Music Studios on Oxford Street. From here she was given theatrical parts with productions by the amateur Risley Operatic Group, including the title role in Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe in 1952, produced by her father.

After secondary school, Lehane began a course in textile design at Hornsey School of Art. She didn't finish the course, but instead went to the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on a scholarship, entering with the inaugural Kathleen Ferrier Award in 1956. With an Arts Council award and at the advice of baritone and conductor Dietrich Fischer Dieskau she went to study in Berlin, but this proved unsuccessful and she returned to England. At the age of 26, her mother submitted her name to John and Aida Dickens (Joan Sutherland's teachers) who awarded Maureen a scholarship consisting of seven years' free tuition.

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