John Lemmoné

John Lemmoné (born June 22, 1861 in Ballarat / Victoria ; † August 16, 1949 in Darlinghurst / Sydney / New South Wales ) was an Australian flautist , composer and music manager .

Lemmoné, the son of a Greek immigrant, played the flute as a child. In 1874 he came to Melbourne with his family, where he became a flautist in William Saurin Lyster's Royal Italian Opera Company . In Adelaide he performed with the Theater Royal Orchestra , and at a benefit concert in Melbourne in 1884 for the benefit of the composer Carl Gottlieb Elsässer , who had suffered a stroke, he met the singer Nellie Melba .

From 1887 to 1889 he undertook concert tours through Australia and Asia with the soprano Amy Sherwin . Concert tours with the singers Janet Monach Patey , Allan James Foley and Charles Santley and the violinist Pablo de Sarasate followed . During a visit to London in 1894 he was promoted by Nellie Melba, who invited him to her soirees. He performed at the Royal Albert Hall and gave concerts with the singer Adelina Patti . In 1896 he performed with Amy Sherwin in South Africa.

After returning to Australia, Lemmoné worked as a concert manager. He organized concerts for the pianist Mark Hambourg and the singer Marie Narelle and was Nellie Melba's personal manager on their Australian tour in 1902. In 1910 he hired singers for Melba's concert tour with James Cassius Williamson's Comic Opera Company in 1911. During the First World War he organized fundraising concerts for Melba in England and Australia.

In 1927 Lemmoné retired from the music business, but in 1938 he still appeared as a flautist with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation . As a composer he emerged with impressionistic works for the flute.