Victor McMahon

Victor McMahon (1903 – 9 March 1992) was an Australian flute teacher and flautist. He was Professor of Flute at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and Supervisor of School (Flute) Bands with the New South Wales Department of Education. He is credited with introducing the flute and recorder to New South Wales schools, greatly increasing the popularity of the flute to generations of students around the state. Among the professional flautists he taught were Don Burrows, Margaret Crawford, Linda Vogt, Jane Rutter, Peter Richardson, Geoffrey Collins, and Mark Underwood. The Victor McMahon Music Centre at St. Kevin's College, Melbourne is named after him.

Victor McMahon was born in Ballarat, Victoria in 1903, the same small country town as another flute virtuoso, John Lemmone. McMahon had some lessons from and was inspired by Lemmone. His schooling was at St Kevin's College, Melbourne and at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, where he studied flute with the celebrated John Amadio before moving to Sydney.

In Sydney, McMahon played in the Prince Edward Theatre Orchestra from 1924 to 1938 and was Professor of Flute at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music from 1932 to 1944. In 1938 he began working with the New South Wales Department of Education to organise school flute bands using B-flat and E-flat flutes that he had designed. He also wrote a tutor for the bands to use. In 1939, McMahon conducted a flute band of 300 performers led by "Master Don Burrows" at a public schools charity concert. By 1940 there were 56 Sydney city schools and 17 rural schools with flute bands. By 1941 a "Special Band" averaging 100 players had formed and was performing in public and in radio broadcasts.

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