Frederick Page

Frederick Joseph Page (Lyttelton, 1905 – Wellington, 1983) was a key figure in New Zealand's musical life in the twentieth century, as a pianist, teacher and commentator. His work in the country is hard to separate from the promotion of contemporary music and the professionalisation of music teaching.

He trained with the pianist Ernest Empson in Christchurch and gained the degree of MusB at Canterbury University College. He then travelled to London, where between 1935 and 1937 he studied composition at the Royal College of Music with Vaughan Williams, R.O. Morris and Gordon Jacob. In 1946 he became the first music lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, where he later rose to professor (1967–1971) and organised a department of contemporary music that gave a platform to several New Zealand composers, whose works he championed.

As a soloist and chamber musician, he was the first in the country to perform Bach's complete cycle known as the '48', Schubert's piano duets and the entire piano output of Schoenberg. He founded the New Zealand section of the ISCM, of which he later served as president, and took part in the creation of the Arts Council. As a critic for The New Zealand Listener, he left a lasting mark, and his influence endures through pupils such as Lyell Cresswell, Jenny McLeod, Denis Smalley and the writer Robin Maconie.