It is with great sadness that we announce that our Founder and lifelong Artistic Director, Renna Manduell MBE (nee Kellaway), has passed away.
A student of Johannes Röntgen in Amsterdam and Franz Osborn in London, South African-born Renna enjoyed a glittering musical career as a pianist and chamber musician, performing, broadcasting and teaching widely across the UK, Europe, USA, East Asia, Australasia and South Africa.
Teaching became a major commitment, and this led eventually to her joining the School of Keyboard Studies at the Royal Northern College of Music (RNCM) in 1980, becoming Head of Keyboard Studies in 1992 until she left the College in 2001.
Her students went on to win countless awards and prizes, many of whom now follow distinguished international careers as soloists, chamber musicians and pedagogues.
During that time she founded the biennial ‘Glories of the Keyboard’ Festival at the RNCM in 1995, while also joining the judging panels of the great piano competitions across Europe from Leeds to Italy and France to Germany.
But it was during her honeymoon with husband Sir John Manduell CBE that she first fell under the spell of the stunning landscape of the Lake District; an experience which was to prove a major turning point in her life.
So it was in 1985 that Renna founded Lake District Summer Music (as it was formerly known), bringing world class performances to Cumbria combined with training for talented young musicians. Under her guidance the festival quickly became well-established on the national and international calendar, attracting students from across the globe.
Housed initially all on one site, festival students, teachers and established artists formed a close-knit community to foster creativity; a formula which has seen some of the most exciting young talents experience the magic of the festival.
This included the likes of violinists Nicola Benedetti, Jennifer Pike and Nikolai Znaider, pianist Steven Osborne, the Heath String Quartet, cellist Guy Johnston and many more.
Renna served as Lake District Music’s Artistic Director until 2020, handing over the reins to Stephen Threlfall who added his own tribute:
“I know I will share with many the tremendous sadness at the passing of Renna Kellaway. A marvellous lady and friend of many years, she was a person of great generosity, tenacity and vision, who was immensely supportive both to myself since I began the task of succeeding her as Artistic Director and to everyone at the festival she created primarily to support the development of emerging musicians.”
Renna was awarded an MBE in 2009 for services to music and in 2012 was honoured by Cumbria Life as the winner of their Lifetime Achievement award.
While Lake District Music approaches its 40th anniversary in 2025 sadly without our much-loved Founder and Honorary President, we look to the future guided by Renna’s innate belief in the power of music to change lives and her drive to nurture and inspire the next generation of young musicians.
Plans are currently underway to commemorate the incredible legacy and impact Renna has left on the musical landscape of Cumbria and beyond during the 2025 summer festival. We will update this page with details as they emerge.
Funeral details:
Following a family cremation, a service will be held on Tuesday 14th May at 1pm at The Church of St John the Baptist at Low Bentham, North Yorkshire. Refreshments will follow at the nearby High Bentham Golf Club.
No flowers please, but donations to Help Musicians (www.helpmusicians.org.uk). Helping musicians was always close to Renna’s heart.
The funeral will also be live-streamed, available here:
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