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Dame Joan Hilda Hood Hammond, (24 May 191226 November 1996) was an Australian operatic soprano, singing coach and golfer.
Her father, Samuel Hood, was born in England. He had married his first wife, Edith, then left her and took up with Hammond's mother, by whom he also had two sons in England. Hood informally added "Hammond" to his name and the couple represented themselves as "Mr and Mrs Samuel H. Hammond" although they were not married at the time.
Joan was born in May 1912, not long after the family had arrived in New Zealand. She was six months old when her family moved again, to Sydney. Her parents finally married in Sydney on 25 May 1927, the day after her 15th birthday, although there is no evidence Samuel's first wife had died by that time, or that they had ever divorced.
Hammond attended Pymble Ladies' College and excelled in both sports and music. She studied violin and singing at the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music in Sydney, and played violin for three years with the Sydney Philharmonic Orchestra before studying singing in Vienna in 1936. MS 8648, Papers of Dame Joan Hammond, National Library of Australia.
She returned to Australia for concert tours in 1946, 1949 and 1953, and starred in the second Elizabethan Theatre Trust opera season in 1957. She undertook world concert tours between 1946 and 1961. Her autobiography, A Voice, a Life, was published in 1970.
Dame Joan Hammond appeared in the major opera houses of the world – the Royal Opera House, La Scala, the Vienna State Opera and the Bolshoi Theatre. Her fame in Britain came not just from her stage appearances but from her recordings. She made famous the aria "O mio babbino caro" from Giacomo Puccini's opera Gianni Schicchi. Recorded in English under the title "O My Beloved Father", it earned Hammond a Gold Record award for 1 million sold copies on 27 August 1969.
Her recording of "O, Silver Moon" from Dvořák's Rusalka was also a huge seller. A prolific artist, Hammond's repertoire also encompassed Giuseppe Verdi, Handel, Tchaikovsky, Jules Massenet, Beethoven, as well as Folk music, art song, and .
Hammond retired to Australia. She became patron and a life member of the Melbourne-based Victorian Opera Company (since 1976, the Victorian State Opera – VSO), founded in 1962 by Leonard Spira. She was the VSO's artistic director from 1971 until 1976 and remained on the board until 1985. Working with the then general manager, Peter Burch, she invited the young conductor Richard Divall to become the company's musical director in 1972. "Divall, Richard (1945–)", Trove She joined the Victorian Council of the Arts, was a member of the Australia Council for the Arts opera advisory panel, and was an honorary life member of Opera Australia. She was important to the success of both the VSO and Opera Australia.
Hammond embarked on a second career as a voice teacher after her performance career ended. In 1975, she was appointed head of vocal studies at the Victorian College of the Arts, a post she held until 1989. In that time she trained an extraordinary number of Australian singers who had successful careers in Australia and on the international stage. Among her notable pupils are sopranos Helen Adams (2025). 9783598440885, Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 9783598440885 and Cheryl Barker, baritone Peter Coleman-Wright, and tenor Steve Davislim.
In 1983, her home at Aireys Inlet was destroyed by the Ash Wednesday bushfires and she lost all her possessions including the memorabilia of a lifetime. White Hat . Retrieved 17 October 2014
Cheryl Barker, Joan Carden and John Bolton-Wood sang at Hammond's memorial concert at the Melbourne Concert Hall, broadcast on ABC Classic FM.
In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1963 she was promoted to Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). She received the Sir Charles Santley memorial gift from the Worshipful Company of Musicians, London, in 1970.
In the Queen's New Year's Day Honours of 1972, she was made a Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to young opera singers. Two years later, in the Queen's Birthday Honours of 1974, she was promoted to Dame Commander (DBE) of the Order of the British Empire for distinguished services to music.
In 1989, the Hammond residence at Deakin University was opened by her and named in her honour. A wing of a Pymble Ladies’ College boarding house is also named for her.
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