Lyndall Hendrickson: Adelaide child violin prodigy hit by polio turns to teaching the gifted and autistic
Lyndall Hendrickson made her debut at the Adelaide Town Hall with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Malcolm Sargent.
Image courtesy State Library of South Australia
Lyndall Hendrickson, born in the South Australian town of Balaclava in 1917, packed an amazing musical life into her 100 years: from childhood violin prodigy and the worldwide fame of performing with orchestras under the batons of Malcolm Sargent, Bernard Heinze and Thomas Beecham to being paralysed by polio in her twenties.
As a teacher, she developed her own innovative methods to nurture gifted Adelaide violinists including Jane Peters, Adele Anthony, Rafaella Acella and Paul Wright. In her 60s, Hendrickson began to explore music as a communication for children with autism. She was still researching her ideas in collaboration with Flinders University academics while in her 80s.
Lyndall Hendrickson started playing at the age of nine and rose to prominence early. Her musically-gifted father took her for her first lessons to gifted musician and teacher Louisa Hakendorf, then at St Peters.
By 13, she had won more than 50 gold medals in competitions against adults and the next year was granted a scholarship to Adelaide University's Elder Conservatorium. She and made her debut with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra before World War II.
She performed professionally, including under the batons of Malcolm Sargent and Thomas Beecham, until she was struck down by poliomyelitis in her late 20s.
Music teaching was the next phase in Hendrickson career – again attracting world interest with her unorthodox methods.
She not only trained some of Australia’s most gifted young musicians – such as Jane Peters, Adele Anthony, Rafaella Acella and Paul Wright – but also those with severe autism. Hendickson, who could also play piano and flute, was featured in her sixties in a television documentary on her work with an 11-year-old autistic disabled child Patrick Farley, who displayed an innate musical ability of a rare order.
She donated her $60,000 Australia Council Don Banks Music Award in 2001 to music and autism research.
In her eighties, Hendrickson was teaching instrumental methodology and supervising a masters student at the University of Adelaide. She also researched psycholinguistics and gave papers at scientific conferences throughout the world for 20 years.