Creating a world of musical possibility: Paviour's legacy endures

His good friend of almost 50 years, Anne Wiggan, has credited Mr Paviour with transforming Goulburn's musical life and broadening people's horizons.

Mr Paviour, 93, died at his Goulburn home on Friday, May 24, following illness.

He was a composer, conductor, choirmaster, organist, pianist, and music teacher in Goulburn from 1975, following his arrival from Bathurst and Birmingham. Mr Paviour also founded the Goulburn Conservatorium of Music in 1985, now the Hume Regional Conservatorium.

Mrs Wiggan described him as a "national living treasure" for his impact and the opportunities he gave people.

She had only just arrived in the Goulburn district in 1975 when she heard his fledgling choir singing Christmas carols in Saint Saviours Cathedral. The then Anne Williams asked to join.

So began a long association in which the Bungonia woman found herself singing at Saint Saviour's and touring with Goulburn's Consort of Voices around NSW, Victoria and then Rome, in 1982.

Mr Paviour had translated and adapted Pope John-Paul's prayers for music and song. The choir performed by special request for the Pope, whom they also met. Among their members was the diplomat, John Lander, an accomplished tenor and good friend of Mr Paviour's.

During the two-week Italy tour, the group also sang at the Fivizano World Choral Festival, representing Australia.

"There were choirs there from Greece, northern Italy and Switzerland. They were stoked we'd come all the way from Goulburn. It was an absolutely wonderful opportunity," Mrs Wiggan said.

Mr Paviour's connections made it possible. He studied at London's Royal College of Music and was a Fellow of the Australian Society of Musicology and Composition. He composed hundreds of works over the years, including symphonies, produced CDs and conducted major works such as The Messiah and Creation in Goulburn.

When Mrs Wiggan first met him, Mr Paviour was lecturing at Goulburn Teachers College. There he composed the music for Madrigal medieval evenings.

"Paul had a cheeky sense of music that came out in the humorous things he wrote and he pushed the envelope on other things," Mrs Wiggan said.

"...His music wasn't always easy but it was always an adventure to be singing his stuff. As a choirmaster, he had a broad repertoire."

In turn, he derived the best from his choirs and musicians.

The Consort of Voices performed at multiple occasions and venues, including the 1988 opening of Canberra's Parliament House, which Queen Elizabeth attended, and at the Sydney Opera House. Also in 1988, Mrs Wiggan wrote the prose for a service welcoming the Saint Saviour's Cathedral bells from England. Mr Paviour composed the music.

He also brought world-class musicians to Goulburn, including Anne Carr-Boyd.

Mrs Wiggan said Mr Paviour inspired her to study an Associate Diploma in Music but many others acquired similar skills due to his influence. Then there were the hundreds of students he taught over the years.

"Music was a driving force in Paul and it sustained him," she said.

"He was able to get remarkable performances out of people and his impact was generational."