Renna Kellaway, Lady Manduell, MBE (18 October 1931 – 26 April 2024) was a South Africa-born British pianist and music teacher.
Biography
Born Irene Lavinia Kellaway in Durban, South Africa, she was the second of three children of Harold Kellaway, an engineer, and his wife Ivy, a mathematics teacher. She made her concert debut in Durban City Hall at the age of 13. At seventeen, she travelled to Amsterdam to study with Johannes Röntgen (1898–1969), and later studied with Franz Osborn (1905–1955, a student of Artur Schnabel) in London. She also played for the noted pianist Clara Haskil.
Kellaway toured as a concert pianist and chamber musician across Europe, Asia, the United States, and South Africa. She gave master classes, served as a juror in piano competitions, and participated in and directed the summer music school at Dartington for several years.
Teaching and Academic Career
Kellaway began teaching at the Birmingham School of Music in the 1970s. She joined the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in 1980, becoming Head of Keyboard Studies in 1992. At the RNCM, she founded the biennial Glories of the Keyboard Festival in 1995. She left the RNCM in 2000 and was succeeded by Martin Roscoe. Her pupils included Caroline Dowdle, Eleanor Hodgkinson, Heejung Kim, Steven Osborne, Carole Presland, and Edward Rushton.
Festival Founding
In 1985, Kellaway founded the annual Lake District Summer Music festival (now known as Lake District Music), which she ran for 35 years as artistic director. Musicians who participated in the festival early in their careers included Nicola Benedetti, the Heath String Quartet, Guy Johnston, Steven Osborne, Jennifer Pike, and Nikolaj Znaider. She retired from the post in 2020 and was succeeded by Stephen Threlfall.
Honours
Kellaway was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) for services to music in the 2009 New Year Honours. The Birmingham Conservatoire established a Renna Kellaway Piano Prize in her honour.
Personal Life
In September 1955, Kellaway married composer and music educator John Manduell. The couple moved north in 1968 when he became director of Music at the University of Lancaster. They resided in High Bentham, North Yorkshire, and had three sons and a daughter. Kellaway became Lady Manduell upon her husband's knighthood in 1989. The marriage lasted until his death in October 2017.
Kellaway died at her home in High Bentham on 26 April 2024, at the age of 92.
