Visiting Ashley . Public radio features produced by Roger Smith & Gareth Watkins



			Visiting Ashley (1925 - 2004) Sixty years ago Ashley Heenan joined the permanent staff of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service. In a career spanning 41 years he rose to prominence as a music administrator, composer and conductor. He was awarded the OBE in 1984. His first musical impressions were gained through his mother, an exceptional pianist, and his grandfather's ability as a folk fiddler. A graduate of Victoria University he then went on to study at the Royal College of Music, London. Upon returning to New Zealand he was appointed Musical Assistant to the National Orchestra conductors James Robertson and John Hopkins before becoming the first Musical Director of the Orchestra Trainees (later the Schola Musica), a position he held for 22 years. He enjoyed success with his film and incidental music and his music to James K. Baxter's "Jack Winter's Dream" (1958) is generally regarded as a New Zealand classic of the genre. A complete generation of New Zealand schoolchildren remember his arrangements of folk songs for Broadcasts to Schools singing lessons. In July 2003, we visited Ashley and his wife Maureen at their Lower Hutt home. Ashley passed away on 6 September 2004 - just days short of his 79th birthday.