<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>337092</docID> <postdate>2025-01-27 15:54:31</postdate> <headline>The brilliant pianist with an ear for everything</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-337094" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Norma-Robertson-at-the-SOAC-1989-Photo-by-Robert-Roach.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Norma Robertson at the School of Arts Cafe, 1989. Photo: Robert Roach</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">Vale Norma Robertson March 21, 1941-January 8, 2025.</span></p> <p>By <strong>Bill Stephens</strong></p> <p><strong>Friends gathered at the Canberra Repertory Theatre on Wednesday to celebrate and reminisce about the life of one of their most admired and respected members, Norma Robertson.</strong></p> <p>A life member of Canberra Repertory, she was best known to the wider community as the brilliant pianist and musical director for Canberra Repertory’s Old Time Music Halls.</p> <p>For 26 years she and fellow pianist, Andrew Kay delighted audiences with their skills as duo-pianists.</p> <p>What set her apart from most other musical directors was her ability to play by ear, transpose any song instantly, often mid-song if necessary, and her inexhaustible good humour during rehearsals.</p> <p>I learned this during my first production Stairway to the Stars, a revue I directed for the Griffith Amateur Musical Revue Company in 1958 and for which, Norma – then a 16-year-old schoolgirl who had passed all her AMEB examinations – was my musical director.</p> <p>She would be my musical director for five more of my shows, until she won a scholarship to the Wagga Teacher’s College in 1961.</p> <p>In 1974 Norma was teamed with local dentist, Andrew Kay, to provide the musical direction for the inaugural Old Time Music Hall.</p> <p>In the mid-'70s, I directed a revue, Up Tempo, for Tempo Theatre, my first production in Canberra, and the piano duo became my musical directors.</p> <p>In 1986, my wife Pat, son Tim and I purchased the School of Arts Café in Queanbeyan.</p> <p>Norma agreed to be accompanist for a season at the café with American lounge singer, Connie Strait, whose talent for being able to sing just about any song from the Great American Songbook, was a perfect match for Norma’s ability to play any of them.</p> <p>But she resolutely refused to perform a solo in any of the shows, preferring to provide a safe and secure ambiance for the artist she was accompanying.</p> <p><img class=" wp-image-337097" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/SOAC-Bull-and-Bush-Christmas-Party-1992.jpg" alt="" width="755" height="503" /></p> <caption>The 1992 Bull 'n' Bush Christmas Party.</caption> <p>However, she did appear in group shows, including numerous editions of the annual Bull 'n' Bush Christmas Parties, where she could hold her own.</p> <p>In their 1989 show, I Love a Piano, she and Kay showcased their duo-piano skills, with polished narration, as she did when accompanying Jon Finlayson and Jon Stephens for their 1998 Flanagan and Allen show, Underneath the Arches.</p> <p>Nothing if not a perfectionist, Norma, didn’t abide fools gladly, but neither was she dictatorial. Rather, she was a wise and knowledgeable mentor, whose counsel was sought and respected by every artist with whom she worked.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p> </p> </body>