Kevin Siddell

Kevin Raymond Siddell was a New Zealand-born Australian pianist, composer, and public service official, active mostly in the states of Queensland and Victoria, Australia.
For his services to music, in 1982, Siddell was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in the General Division in the 1982 Australia Day Honours.
Kevin Siddell was a Life Member of the

Early years

Siddell was born in Taihape, New Zealand.

Public service roles

In 1970, Kevin Siddell became Queensland’s first Supervisor of Music with the Queensland Department of Education commented, “One had only to read the monthly cultural affairs diary to realise how widely Mr Siddell travelled to promote the arts in Queensland … whenever the arts are discussed, the name of Kevin Siddell is spoken with great admiration and respect.”

Performance

Siddell was co-director with John Curro of the National Music Camp held in Brisbane in 1982.
Siddell was involved in music concerts, including a performance as co-reader of the Passion performance for the Bach Society of Queensland on 23 and 26 March 1986.

Composition

Siddell composed music for the autoharp.
Siddell also wrote the introduction to Betty Beath’s children’s opera, The raja who married an angel.

Music and faith

Siddell’s compositions include liturgical music and settings of sacred text.
His St Cecilia’s Jubilee Mass dates from 1957 and includes the usual components of the Mass.
In 1994, Siddell published Till the moon fails: thirty two psalm settings, two canticles, an Easter blessing with Alleluia and a hymn, held in the National Library of Australia.
Siddell composed music for Catholic liturgical services (Mass (liturgy) which are still in use for Catholic Mass at the parish of St Ignatius, Toowong, in Brisbane.
He wrote several articles for Brisbane's Liturgy News, and following his death, an "In Memoriam" to Kevin Siddell was published in the same title in 2004.