Philanthropist Denis Adam, a major contributor to music and the arts in New Zealand had died, aged 94.
Photo: YouTube / Screengrab / https://youtu.be/oSgZL8Wxbfg
The Adam Chamber Music Festival, NZSO National Youth Orchestra, and The Adam International Cello Competition were all supported by Denis and his wife Verna through the Adam Foundation which was established in 1975.
He also contributed to the Adam Concert Room at Victoria University of Wellington and the Adam Auditorium at City Gallery Wellington. The Adam Foundation also donated to the planned national centre of music excellence in Civic Square.
Wellington Mayor Justin Lester Photo: RNZ - Rebekah Parsons-King
In a statement released this morning Wellington Major Justin Lester says the arts and music sector would be very different if it wasn’t for their support.
“The New Zealand arts scene owes Denis a huge debt of gratitude, and he will be remembered as a pillar of the arts scene,” Lester says.
Listen to performances from the Adam Chamber Music Festival.
Colleen Marshall, Chair of the Adam Chamber Music Festival knew Denis for about 25 years. She says his contribution to art is considerable. “He offered to sponsor the festival with the proviso that we called it the Adam festival,” she says. “Denis laid foundations for what it would be. We owe everything to him.”
Denis was actively involved with the shape of the festival, with the team working closely with him. “He always supported us in a positive way and was open to suggestions,” Marshall says. “He was a darling. I was very fond of him. He has a great love of chamber music.”
Since the late 1990s the Adam Foundation also contributed significantly to the NZSO National Youth Orchestra. This included sponsoring a number of concerts in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch this year.
The NYO will celebrate its 60th birthday in 2019 and those concerts in Auckland and Wellington in July will also be sponsored by the Foundation.
NZSO National Youth Orchestra Photo: Inspire Photography
Adam outlined his background in his autobiography Profile of a New New Zealander. He was of German Jewish ancestry, a refugee at 10 and was just 15 when World War II broke out. At 16 he was arrested and interned just after his 16th birthday.
He was behind bars for four weeks. “…being behind barbed wire at 16 - it was a rebellious age. I was anti everything and everybody,” he said in an interview in 2009 on RNZ National’s Sunday Morning programme.
He went on to be an RAF pilot in 1942, trained in Zimbabwe and was sent to the Red Sea, Port Augusta and Britain. The headquarters for the RAF at the time was Lord’s Cricket Ground, he said.
During this time he met a number of New Zealanders, including a captain who was from Christchurch.
He left the RAF in 1946 and came to New Zealand, where he had cousins.
He got a job in a factory and then moved into insurance where he was able to build wealth that allowed him to support the arts.
Denis and Verna established the Adam Foundation in 1975, extending support to the arts, focusing on emerging artists.
He has received a number of awards including being made a Companion and an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1993. The couple was also given the inaugural award for Patronage to the Arts in 2006.
Details of a memorial service are yet to be released.
