Renee Lees

Renee Evelyn Mary Lees (1883 – 17 December 1966)^[1] was an Australian pianist, hailed as a child prodigy, later known as a theatre organist.

1920 Talma & Co. postcard of Renee Lees

History

Lees was born in Sydney late in 1883^[2] to Mary Louisa Lees, née Shirley, (died 1915)^[3] and George Edward Lees (died 1919),^[4] both school teachers, who married in 1872.^[5]

She was educated at the Blackfriars Superior Public Girls School, where in 1890 her musical aptitude was first revealed.^[6] She received instruction in pianoforte from Sydney violinist Josef Kretschmann^[7] (c. 1837 – 30 April 1918).^[8] She gave her first public concert in Glebe, New South Wales in 1893.^[9]

In 1894, when not yet 11, it was said that she played Bach and Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt " . . . with a refinement of intelligence and taste which cannot be regarded as other than an instinct."^[10]

She undertook a three months' tour of New Zealand in 1899, as accompanist to juvenile violinist Ernest Toy.^[11][12] before proceeding to London, accompanied by her mother, for further instruction with Georg Liebling.^[13] She received good notices,^[14] but returned to Australia before a year had elapsed,^[15] a sure sign that she had not been accepted in the front rank of performers. She found favor in George Musgrove's troupe, as accompanist to important singers, such as Sylvia Blackston.^[16]

She was hired to play the Wurlitzer organ at the Rialto Theatre, Sydney, when it opened in 1922,^[17] and in 1928, when Melbourne's State Theatre's Wurlitzer organ (now in Moorabbin Town Hall) was opened by Frank D. Lanterman, Lees accompanied him at the minor console.^[18]

In the 1940s and 1950s she performed regularly on radio, as soloist and accompanist, piano and organ, mostly on AM radio 2NA and 2FC. She died at Petersham, New South Wales.^[1]

Family

Renee Lees had a brother Percy S(hirley) Lees (c. 1877 – 6 September 1959), a teacher,^[19] and secretary of the N.S.W. Cyclists' Union 1903–1906. Her sister Elsie (died 23 August 1951) married Alfred Ernest Quinton.^[4][20]

She married or otherwise changed her name to Renee Perry,^[21] with which name she died,^[1] but still known professionally as Lees.