Lyell Cresswell
(1944-2022) was a pre-eminent New Zealand composer of contemporary
music. He studied in Wellington, Toronto, Aberdeen and Utrecht, and
after 1985 was a full-time composer based in Edinburgh. His music is
widely performed, and he was a featured composer at many festivals
around the world and in New Zealand. His many honours include the Ian
Whyte Award for the orchestral work Salm (1977) and the APRA Silver
Scroll for his contribution to New Zealand music (1979). In 2002 he was
awarded an honorary DMus degree by Victoria University of Wellington.
His Third Piano Concerto is receiving its world premiere by the NZSO in
September 2024 in concerts in Wellington, Hastings, Auckland and
Dunedin.