Person Open DS/UK/1689 Taylor; Gwendolyn 'Avril' Coleridge- (1903-1998); English pianist, conductor, composer Taylor Gwendolyn 'Avril' Coleridge- 1903-1998 English pianist, conductor, composer Female

Gwendolyn Avril Coleridge-Taylor (8 March 1903 – 21 December 1998) was an English pianist, conductor, and composer. She was born in South Norwood, London, the daughter of composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. She wrote her first composition, Goodbye Butterfly, at the age of twelve. Later, she won a scholarship for composition and piano at Trinity College of Music in 1915, where she was taught by Gordon Jacob and Alec Rowley. In 1933 she made her debut as a conductor at the Royal Albert Hall. She was then the first female conductor of H.M.S. Royal Marines and a frequent guest conductor of the BBC Orchestra and the London Symphony Orchestra. She was the founder and conductor of both the Coleridge-Taylor Symphony Orchestra and its accompanying musical society in the 1940s as well as the Malcolm Sargent Symphony Orchestra. Her compositions include large-scale orchestral works, as well as songs, keyboard, and chamber music. In 1957, she wrote the Ceremonial March to celebrate Ghana's independence. Her other well-regarded works include a Piano Concerto in F minor (Sussex Landscape, The Hills, To April, In Memoriam R.A.F.), Wyndore (Windover) for choir and orchestra, and Golden Wedding Ballet Suite for orchestra. She dropped her first name after a divorce, thereafter going by Avril professionally. She spent her latter life in South Africa, where she lived under apartheid and could not work as a composer or conductor because of her one-fourth black African ancestry.She also wrote under the pseudonym Peter Riley. International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes RAHSkeyte 9/17/2012 Rachael.Fragola 3/1/2022 c8be3f51-f997-41cf-89cd-cfa16a63bf82