Athol Mann Award for Vocal Students

History and purpose:

The Athol Mann Award for Classical Voice was established in 2018 with a generous bequest from Athol Mann in acknowledgment of his passion for Opera and commitment to students of classical voice.

The late Emeritus Professor Athol Mann, a former Dean of what is now known as Wellington School of Business and Government and a prominent Wellington figure, has left a long legacy at Victoria University of Wellington.

While his career was in accountancy, Athol originally planned to study history and had a lifelong interest in the arts. He grew up in a musical family and developed a passion for opera after seeing an internationally acclaimed cast perform Verdi’s Rigoletto in his home city of Christchurch as a teenager. He once said that he had an “addiction for music the way some others have an addiction for golf”.

He was actively involved in choral singing for 30 years and held senior positions in a wide range of musical organisations. This included being the inaugural chair of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, a founding director of Te Papa Museum and a member of the board of New Zealand Opera up until his death in 2017. In 1986, he was awarded the CMG for service to the accountancy.

Athol described leaving a bequest to the University “an opportunity to do something for Victoria to repay what the University has done for me”.

This scholarship is to support students majoring in Classical Voice at the New Zealand School of Music at Te Herenga Waka - Victoria University of Wellington. It will be awarded to support students in preparation for their audition tour.

• This scholarship is open to current New Zealand School of Music students who are majoring in Classical Voice. Preference for postgraduate students however, undergraduate students may still apply. Selection will be based on academic merit.

Selection Criteria:

• Applicants must be enrolled full-time at the New Zealand School of Music majoring in Classical Voice.
• Applicants must be intending to enrol full time in their Honours year in the year following application.