Rita McAllister
Encyclopedia
Margaret 'Rita' McAllister (born 6 March 1946, Mossend
, North Lanarkshire
, Scotland
) is a Scottish
musicologist and composer
. She is the Director of Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
and is renowned as an authority on the works of Sergei Prokofiev
.
She undertook her undergraduate studies at the University of Glasgow
, graduating BMus with first class honours. At the same time she was a part time student at the RSAMD studying piano with Wight Henderson and viola with Frieda Peters. She studied composition with Anthony Hedges
and Robin Orr
, and won the first BBC Scotland
Young Composer’s prize in 1966. In the late 1960s she spent three years at the University of Cambridge
researching the operas of Sergei Prokofiev; she completed her PhD in 1970.
Her work on Prokofiev resulted in intensive work in Moscow, St Petersburg and throughout the southern USSR. In the 1970s and 1980s she broadcast and published extensively on many aspects of Soviet and Russian music. Her compositions from this time include chamber works, song cycles and works for music theatre, as well as electro-acoustic pieces. From 1969 she was a lecturer in the Faculty of Music at the University of Edinburgh
, teaching composition, twentieth-century history and analysis, and established the electronic and recording studios there. She was appointed Director of Music at the Academy in 1986, and from 1996 to 2006 she was additionally Vice-Principal.
Rita McAllister edited the original version of Prokofiev's War and Peace which was premiered in Glasgow on 22 January 2010.
Mossend
Mossend is a town on the A775, in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, to the east of its larger sister town, Bellshill, and near to the Strathclyde Country Park....
, North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire
North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
) is a Scottish
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
musicologist and composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
. She is the Director of Music at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama
The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland is a conservatoire of music, drama, and dance in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Educational Association, it is the busiest performing arts venue in Scotland...
and is renowned as an authority on the works of Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Prokofiev
Sergei Sergeyevich Prokofiev was a Russian composer, pianist and conductor who mastered numerous musical genres and is regarded as one of the major composers of the 20th century...
.
She undertook her undergraduate studies at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
, graduating BMus with first class honours. At the same time she was a part time student at the RSAMD studying piano with Wight Henderson and viola with Frieda Peters. She studied composition with Anthony Hedges
Anthony Hedges
Anthony Hedges is an English composer whose output covers most musical genres. His orchestral music includes two symphonies, a Sinfonia Concertante, concertinos for Flute, Horn, Trumpet, Bassoon, Variations on a theme of Rameau, together with a substantial number of light music compositions...
and Robin Orr
Robin Orr
Robert Kelmsley Orr CBE was a Scottish composer.Born in Brechin, he studied at the Royal College of Music in London and at Pembroke College, Cambridge. Following studies with Alfredo Casella and Nadia Boulanger he returned to Cambridge in 1938 as Organist of St John's College. During his war...
, and won the first BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland is a constituent part of the British Broadcasting Corporation, the publicly-funded broadcaster of the United Kingdom. It is, in effect, the national broadcaster for Scotland, having a considerable amount of autonomy from the BBC's London headquarters, and is run by the BBC Trust, who...
Young Composer’s prize in 1966. In the late 1960s she spent three years at the University of Cambridge
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
researching the operas of Sergei Prokofiev; she completed her PhD in 1970.
Her work on Prokofiev resulted in intensive work in Moscow, St Petersburg and throughout the southern USSR. In the 1970s and 1980s she broadcast and published extensively on many aspects of Soviet and Russian music. Her compositions from this time include chamber works, song cycles and works for music theatre, as well as electro-acoustic pieces. From 1969 she was a lecturer in the Faculty of Music at the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
, teaching composition, twentieth-century history and analysis, and established the electronic and recording studios there. She was appointed Director of Music at the Academy in 1986, and from 1996 to 2006 she was additionally Vice-Principal.
Rita McAllister edited the original version of Prokofiev's War and Peace which was premiered in Glasgow on 22 January 2010.