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Lauri Kennedy ( Irvine Robert Laurie Kennedy; 5 July 1896 – 26 April 1985) was an Australian cellist.
He studied with Herbert Walenn at the Royal College of Music, London, and Paul Grümmer in Vienna. Dame Nellie Melba noticed him and encouraged him to undertake further studies in the United States.
He became principal cellist with Sir Adrian Boult's BBC Symphony Orchestra at its inception in 1929 and played with them until 1935.Asa Briggs, The History of Broadcasting in the UK. Accessed 29 August 2022. It has been stated that his cello can be heard in the slow movement of Boult's 1935 recording of the Johannes Brahms 2nd Piano Concerto with Artur Schnabel.
However, Kennedy himself said that, while it was planned that he should play the cello solo, by the time the recording was actually made (Nov. 1935), he had left the BBCSO, and that it was Ambrose Gauntlett whose cello playing is recorded with Schnabel. He recorded music with Fritz Kreisler HB direct and William Primrose, including Kreisler's String Quartet in A minor in 1935 with members of the London Quartet. Arkivmusic.com Kennedy performs Kreisler He recorded Edgar Bainton's Cello Sonata. Music web international After Felix Salmond and Guilhermina Suggia turned it down, Lauri Kennedy was engaged to premiere Frank Bridge's Oration (1929-30) for cello and orchestra, but withdrew during rehearsals: Florence Hooton was the eventual soloist.Michael Steinberg, The Concerto. Accessed 29 August 2022. He also became a professor at the Royal College of Music.
His wife, Dorothy Kennedy ( McBride), was a pianist who also accompanied John McCormack and taught the children of Enrico Caruso. Lauri and Dorothy performed together in some recordings. Recordings, cduniverse.com. Accessed 29 August 2022.
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They made a highly successful tour of Australia in 1938. They then went to the United States again, where Lauri joined Toscanini's NBC Symphony Orchestra. He relocated to Hollywood and his playing is heard on a number of films, including Walt Disney's Fantasia.
In 1944, they returned to Australia permanently. They bought hotels in Taree and Sydney, and Lauri taught at music camps. Australian singers he accompanied included Stella Power. Lauri later taught cello at the Canberra School of Music in 1966, resigning after only one year due to poor health. Papers of Earnest [sic] Llewellyn, nla.gov.au. Accessed 28 August 2022. His private students include John Painter, himself a future Director of the Canberra School of Music. The Dictionary of Performing Arts in Australia. Accessed 29 August 2022.
Dorothy Kennedy died in 1972. Lauri Kennedy died on 26 April 1985, in Sacramento, California, where he was living with their eldest son, David. Their son John Kennedy was also a cellist and was the natural father of the violinist Nigel Kennedy. Lauri Kennedy's cousin was violinist Daisy Kennedy.
Music career
In the US during the 1920s, he became principal cellist with the New York Philharmonic at the personal invitation of Arturo Toscanini. He played chamber music with performers such as Arthur Rubinstein and Jascha Heifetz. Myspace: Debbie Kennedy In the United Kingdom he played in a noted piano quartet called the Chamber Music Players with Albert Sammons, Lionel Tertis and William Murdoch. John White, Lionel Tertis bach cantatas: William Murdoch He also appeared with the tenor John McCormack for a number of years, and appears on record accompanying McCormack. McCormack Studies, McCormacksociety.co.uk. Accessed 29 August 2022.
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