I am enjoying Frank Van Straten’s series on tenor Walter Kirby, my great-aunt, Allea Fleming Dunstan, having been one of his many pupils. She was present on several of the occasions mentioned and being part of Melbourne’s musical scene c.1925-1935 was on programs with many of the well-known identities of the period.
I am enjoying Frank Van Straten’s series on tenor Walter Kirby, my great-aunt, Allea Fleming Dunstan, having been one of his many pupils. She was present on several of the occasions mentioned and being part of Melbourne’s musical scene c.1925-1935 was on programs with many of the well-known identities of the period. I would be interested in making contact with any relatives of these—ie. those of the Castles, etc., etc.
While studying in London and on the Continent she included in a letter to a friend in Melbourne (The Herald, 27 May 1930), the compliment that, ‘Mr.Kirby’s method of voice production is the nearest method of any in her experience to the system followed by the maestro with whom she studied in Milan’.
Geraldine Starbrook
