Trinity remembers Dame Elisabeth Murdoch

Well known for her generous support of a wide variety of artistic, educational and social causes, her philanthropic support was also directed to Trinity College, of which she was made a Fellow in 2000.

Since 1990, Dame Elisabeth has been a regular and substantial donor to many areas of the College, including the Frank Henagan Scholarship Fund, the Frank Woods Theological Lectureship Endowment (she remembered Sir Frank as a 'special man who meant a lot to our community'), and the Art Fund (to enable the commissioning of a portrait of Lord Casey), but her greatest contributions to the College were in the area of music.

In addition to donations to the Organ Fund and the general music fund, Dame Elisabeth gave generously to the Choir Tour Fund that enabled the Choir of Trinity College (which she believed 'lifts one’s spirits in a most inspiring manner') to undertake extended tours to England, the Continent, South-East Asia and North America, and also to the Director of Music Endowment Fund. The Choir was particularly pleased when it was asked to contribute a volume of music to the Hush collection of CDs produced to support Australian children’s hospitals, an area close to Dame Elisabeth’s heart, having been associated with the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne since 1933 when she joined its management committee.

In 2008, Dame Elisabeth assisted in providing a home at Trinity College for the fledgling Tin Alley String Quartet, then recent winners of the prestigious Banff International String Quartet Competition. Her support enabled the Quartet to be Artists in Residence for a year, contributing to the music program of the College, and recording Vaughan Williams’s Five Mystical Songs with the Choir, which was later released on ABC Classics.

Dame Elisabeth was a regular visitor to the College, reading at the annual service of Nine Lessons and Carols, and attending concerts, dinners and other special events. She became a Governor of the Trinity College Foundation in 2001, and a Patron of the Campaign for Trinity in 2004. Her leadership of Australian philanthropy will be greatly missed.