Olive Smith (19 June 1906 – 12 September 1993) was a lifelong campaigner on behalf of classical music in Ireland. She co-founded the Music Association of Ireland, was the first director of the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland, and was a conductor of the Olivian Singers and the Culwick Choral Society.
Early life Born Mabel Olive Richardson, she was the third daughter of a Dublin merchant, Charles E. Richardson and his wife, Alice Maud Metcalfe. The family lived in Rathgar. Olive was educated at Alexandra College and Trinity College Dublin. In 1932, she married Lyall Gilchrist Smith, a chemist.Simon Taylor, "Smith, (Mabel) Olive", Dictionary of Irish Biography, retrieved 27 June 2011
Career in music Smith combined her full-time job as an administrator in Trinity College with her voluntary work in a variety of roles in Ireland's musical life.
In 1948, Smith co-founded the Music Association of Ireland and became its first treasurer.The Irish Times, "New group to promote music", 21 May 1948 Over the following three decades, she held in turn each position on the MAI's management committee, including chairman, and was responsible for many of the association's initiatives to promote classical music, especially among young people.The Irish Times, "Twenty-five years of the MAI", 30 March 1973 In July 1978, after her term as chairman had ended, Smith was awarded an honorary doctorate by Trinity College, Dublin, in recognition of her "devoted service to the Music Association of Ireland".The Irish Times, "McBride honoured by Trinity", 7 July 1978
In May 1957, Smith founded the Olivian Singers, a female choir, which she conducted at their inaugural concert on January 6, 1958, in Alexandra College.The Irish Times, "Concert by Olivian Singers", 7 January 1958 In March 1963, the Olivian Singers participated in the first performance in Ireland of Benjamin Britten's War Requiem, which took place in St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin.The Irish Times, "Irish performance of Britten work", 5 December 1962 For several years in the early-1960s, Smith was also chorus mistress of the Culwick Choral Society, a Dublin choir founded in 1898.The Irish Times, "Culwick Choral Society concert", 13 February 1959 She was succeeded in that role by Seóirse Bodley.The Irish Times, "The Culwick", 17 November 1966
In 1970, Smith and violinist Hugh Maguire founded the Irish Youth Orchestra (now the National Youth Orchestra of Ireland). She was the orchestra's first director until her retirement from that position in 1982.
Smith was appointed to the Cultural Relations Committee in January 1982. Set up in 1949, the committee advised the Minister for Foreign Affairs on the administration of funds allocated for the development of cultural relations with other countries.The Irish Times, "Two join cultural committee", 7 January 1982
Personal life Smith's husband, Lyall, predeceased her in January 1969. They had a daughter, Gillian. Olive Smith died in Highfield Private Hospital aged 87 and is buried in Enniskerry churchyard.The Irish Times, p. 24, 14 September 1993
Sources
Further reading Smith, Gillian, Olive Smith: A Musical Visionary (Somerville Press, 2019 )