Community mourns Nehama Patkin
THE arts and education communities are in mourning following the death of acclaimed pianist Nehama Patkin, aged 70, on the weekend. Patkin died of complications related to an infection in her hip and was buried Sunday at the Melbourne Chevra Kadisha cemetery in Lyndhurst.
DANNY GOCS
THE arts and education communities are in mourning following the death of acclaimed pianist Nehama Patkin, aged 70, on the weekend.
Patkin died of complications related to an infection in her hip and was buried Sunday at the Melbourne Chevra Kadisha cemetery in Lyndhurst.
Patkin’s parents, Benzion and Hemda, migrated to Australia from Palestine in 1929. Benzion was instrumental in the establishment of Mount Scopus Memorial College and Patkin was part of the school’s first enrolment of students in 1949.
At the age of four, Patkin began learning the piano, starting a lifelong passion for music.
After completing her studies at Mount Scopus, she attended the University of Melbourne and graduated with a bachelor of music in 1959, followed eight years later by a masters degree.
She played piano in competitions and was trained in guitar, oboe, flute and dancing, with further study to teach creative movement dancing.
Patkin was involved in a Jewish theatre group, the Habima Players, and it was there that she met Peter Grodeck. They were married in 1959.
The renowned performer’s involvement in music continued to grow, becoming an accompanist for ballet schools. She was also one of the first presenters on the ABC TV series Playschool.
In 1970, she composed the musical score for The Australian Ballet Company’s¬† production Arena, which was performed around Australia.
Over the years, she played piano concertos with all the Australian symphony orchestras, as well as guest appearances with orchestras in Brazil, Hawaii and Germany. She was also awarded life membership of the Friends of the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.
Patkin was a regular performer at community functions and was director of Victoria’s Israeli Independence Day celebrations for eight years, as well as directing similar functions interstate.
A member of the board of governors of the Malcolm Sargent Cancer Fund for Children, she also received a Churchill Fellowship in 2003, the Order of Australia (OAM) medal in 1998 for service to the community, and was appointed an Australia Day ambassador in 2008.
Patkin was a lecturer at the Victorian College of the Arts and established the Young Musicians of Excellence to provide high quality orchestral music for children.
She leaves a partner Kenneth Madl, two sons, Anton and Damien Grodeck, and two grandchildren, Ben and Adam Grodeck.
When Ben graduated from Mount Scopus Memorial College in 2008, he created history in becoming the first third-generation graduate of the school.
Mount Scopus Memorial College principal Rabbi James Kennard said: “The Mount Scopus community fondly remembers Nehama Patkin as one of its first students.
“Her immense contribution to the fields of music and music education, her roles as teacher, mother and grandmother of our students and enthusiastic supporter of the college, make us proud to have counted Nehama as one of our graduates.”