Australian pianist, conductor and educator Max Olding died in Brisbane on 17 November, 2021, at the age of 92.

Max Olding. Image courtesy Queensland Music Teachers’ Association on Facebook.

A beloved figure in Australian music, there was scarcely a corner of the nation’s music-making over the past half-century that Olding didn’t have an impact. He was a particularly vital figure in Queensland where he and his wife, fellow-pianist Pamela Page, settled in 1976.

His influence on piano playing in that state was laid bare for all to see in the days following his death, when past students – and three of Australia’s finest pianists of the past 30 years – Jayson Gillham, Simon Tedeschi and Liam Viney all penned eloquent tributes on social media.

“A true musical legend, loved by everyone who knew him and a huge loss to music in Australia,” wrote Gillham. “An extraordinary man and musician,” wrote Tedeschi, saying, Olding “possessed a constellation of qualities you often see in different people but not always in one person: erudition, intelligence, kindness, musicality and command of presence.” Viney’s...