City of Armadale - History House > Records

AUSTRALIAN OF THE YEAR AWARD 2005

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2005

Overview

A double piece of plain glass as a base, forming an arc, with a concave upright, rectangular but tapering to a point on the side. It has a dappled blue back with silver text on the front. Starting with a silver abstract design of Australia, with text underneath; [Australian / of the Year / Awards 2005 / JOHN CHRISTMASS / Senior Australian / of the Year / Western Australia]. Along the base [PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL AUSTRALIA DAY COUNCIL].

Historical information

In 2005 John Christmass was awarded the Senior Western Australian of the Year in that years Australian of the Year awards. The awards are presented each year around Australia Day to celebrate the achievements and contributions of eminent citizens. The awards were started in 1960 and have an Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Years, Young Australian of the Year and Local Hero category which are awarded at a national and state level.
John Christmass moved to the Kelmscott area in the 1970s. John had taught music since the 1940s and later joined the Department of Education and was in charge of their choral music program.
In 1985 he retired from the education department and focussed his time on teaching and promoting music from his Kelmscott office. From there he managed the I Voci Choir which was made up of past students from Perth Modern School aged 18-30.
John was the musical director for the Perth Anzac Day Services from 1971 to the early 2000s, he started the 1st Vienna Pops concert and the Best of British concert at the Perth Concert Hall in c1987 and 1991 respectively to help raise money for Rotary. He directed his last in 2013 and 2012. He was presented with the Order of Australia in 2012, for his services to music, plus many other local and state awards over the years.
Locally he directed many concerts, taught music, advocated for a concert venue in the City of Armadale and was a strong advocate for the local art and culture scene.
The award provides a connection to the long and distinguished career of John Christmass who has played an important role in music education as well as promoting music and choral music in Western Australia. John has also managed to raise many hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-33-COA2016.75

Themes

People
Social History

Material

Glass

Width

97 mm

Height or length

198 mm

Keywords

John Christmass

National Australia Day Council

Year

2005

Statement of significance

This object is part of a collection of items that tells the story of the creativity and ingenuity of members of the local community in relation to art, design and engineering/construction. The collection relates to expressions of creativity that impacted an individual or small group of people to objects that have been enjoyed around the world.

Primary significance criteria

Historic significance

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity

Rare or representative

Well provenanced

City of Armadale - History House

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