Australian Dictionary of Biography

Terry Vaughan, 10 June 1960

National Library of New Zealand

Terence Vaughan (1915–1996), pianist, producer, and musical director, was born on 26 May 1915 at Whangārei, New Zealand, younger son of New Zealand-born parents Sidney Maurice Vaughan, merchant, and his wife Dorothy Helen, née Gillespie. Terry spent his early years on a farm on the Canterbury Plains, where he went to the local Hororata School, before attending New Brighton School when the family moved to Christchurch. In October 1924, following the death of his father, Vaughan’s name began appearing in local newspapers after he performed an original dance in a recital staged by the well-known dance teacher Margery Myers. The Christchurch Star observed that ‘his “feet feel as if they must dance”’ (1924, 9). A talented pianist as well, he was recognised as a child prodigy. With his mother having to return to work to support herself, he moved in with his paternal grandmother, who was in a better financial position. He later boarded at Timaru Boys’ High School (1928–32).

Between 1932 and 1935 Vaughan studied music at Canterbury (University) College (DipMus, 1937). After winning a musical exhibition, he moved to London in January 1935 to study piano, composition, and conducting at the Royal Academy of Music, where he was awarded prizes in musical composition. At the outbreak of World War II, he enlisted in the 2nd New Zealand Expeditionary Force and served in Egypt from April 1940 with the 34th Anti-Tank Battery. In February 1941 he was transferred to the newly formed New Zealand Entertainment Unit, otherwise known as The Kiwi Concert Party, and soon assumed command of the unit as its musical director after the founder, Tom Kirk-Burnnand, began to suffer from hearing loss. ‘The Kiwis’ performed in North Africa, Crete, and Italy, frequently in the midst of conflict. A great motivator who inspired those under his command, Vaughan rose to temporary captain (1945) and was twice mentioned in dispatches and appointed MBE (1945).

Returning to New Zealand in late 1945, Vaughan worked for the National Broadcasting Service’s radio station 2YA in Wellington. Such was Vaughan’s Kiwi Concert Party’s fame that he was soon engaged by the Australian theatre company J. C. Williamson Ltd to lead a revue troupe based in Melbourne. In April 1946 the Kiwis Revue Company began a tour of Australia and New Zealand. ‘Co-operation was the name of the game,’ remembered Vaughan. ‘Comedians sang in the vocal ensembles; singers appeared in sketches, sections of the band played on stage. There was no star system’ (1995, 73). The tour was briefly disrupted by a trip to Auckland, where he married Australian-born Roma Hope Collins, whom he had met during his college days, on 14 October 1947. They returned to Melbourne where Terry continued touring. He resigned in early 1951 and they settled at Karori, Wellington, with their three children.

In 1954, after several years conducting in New Zealand, Vaughan returned to J. C. Williamson Ltd as personal assistant to the managing director (Sir) Frank Tait in Melbourne. He was later made director of music and casting for Australasia. In 1965 the Vaughans moved to Canberra, where Terry was appointed director of the new Canberra Theatre Centre, Australia’s first multistage theatre complex. For the opening night on 24 June 1965, he engaged the Australian Ballet for a dazzling performance, and his own original fanfare was played by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

With the same ‘quiet but authoritative’ leadership (Hoffman 1980, 17) with which he had led The Kiwis, Vaughan presided over a vibrant period of performing arts in the national capital. He brought in national and international companies; conducted, directed, and performed in shows; and involved himself in local companies such as the Children’s Theatre Society and Canberra Philharmonic Society, for whom he conducted Fiddler on the Roof in 1978. His willingness to experiment and ‘to “kick heads” in the senior ranks of the public service’ (Musa and Kingsland 1996, 2) enlivened the city’s arts culture. He was also commissioned to write Lake Music for the opening of the National Carillon by Queen Elizabeth II on 26 April 1970. Two years later, the Canberra Theatre Trust sent him overseas to gather information on world concert hall designs, but plans for a national facility were abandoned with news that the Canberra School of Music was beginning construction on an auditorium (later Llewellyn Hall).

In mid-1980 Vaughan retired as director. The same year, he was appointed OBE at Buckingham Palace, London. In 1982, after six months abroad, Terry and Roma moved to Subiaco, Perth, where their sons, Jeremy and Roger, were living; their daughter, Sally, would soon join them. Terry returned to Canberra twice as a special guest conductor for the Canberra Symphony Orchestra’s performances of The Merry Widow (1983) and Illuminations (1986). In his later years, he wrote an autobiography, Whistle as You Go (1995), which was filled with anecdotes of rubbing shoulders with royals, politicians, and other celebrities. He once played a duet with Doug Anthony’s wife Margot for a charity concert, and he was familiar with Gough and Margaret Whitlam, who often attended the theatre. Survived by his wife and children, he died on 26 April 1996 in Perth and his ashes were interred at Karrakatta cemetery.

Short and dapper, Vaughan was known for his kindness, ‘modesty and quiet charm’ (Camm 1946, 8). With Roma, who was a practising artist in Canberra, he maintained an unpretentious and slightly bohemian lifestyle and, despite his tendency to over-commit himself, he dreamed of living a quiet life. He was also a pragmatist. In June 1980, during his farewell speech at the Canberra Theatre luncheon club, he revealed himself as a natural raconteur with amazing recall and wit. He later admitted that he enjoyed relaxing in retirement and ‘being remembered as a musician, a performer rather than a director’ (Foster 1986, 15).