The Northern Aldborough adds its tribute to the many others from all over the musical world, to its Honorary Patron Dame Fanny Waterman, who died on Sunday 20th December.
A distinguished piano tutor like no other, she will be best remembered for founding The Leeds International Piano Competition in 1961 with her late husband Dr Geoffrey de Keyser and Marion Thorpe CBE.
Encouraged by Dame Fanny, the Northern Aldborough Festival began a longstanding relationship with the ‘Leeds’ that continues to this day, offering a concert to a finalist from every competition.
We will miss her fierce support for music making in the local area, and for the enthusiasm with which she would attend events and concerts at the Northern Aldborough Festival given by many of her prodigiously talented pupils and competition winners, well into her tenth decade.
The Festival sends its condolences to her family, and pays tribute to the force of nature that was Dame Fanny Waterman.