15 January 2026
Historian’s visionary legacy ensures joy of music lives on
As one of the world’s leading English-language historians of the Soviet Union and a violinist, AYO alum and bequestor, Sheila Fitzpatrick, credits her time at National Music Camp (NMC) with fostering a lifelong love for music. Throughout her distinguished career, Sheila has continued to play and champion the enduring joy of music fostered by AYO’s music camps.
Credit: Paul L. Merideth
More than 60 years after her first NMC experience, Sheila’s visionary legacy as a proud bequestor of the John Bishop Circle will impact thousands of young musicians.
“I’m immensely grateful that [AYO] existed to make me see how music could be a part of my life, including if I were not a professional. My personal interest here is investing in inclusive, high-level music making, that is going to make you want to find a community orchestra or people to play quartets with for the rest of your life. Whatever you do, keeping that lifelong love of music and joy for it.”
— AYO alum and bequestor, Professor Sheila Fitzpatrick
Sheila’s connection to AYO began in 1956 at her first NMC under Ruth Alexander and John Bishop during her high school years. After finishing school, Sheila pursued a career in history, receiving her B.A. (Hons.) at the University of Melbourne and a D. Phil. at St. Antony’s College, Oxford. Her work has transformed the study of Soviet history, particularly the Russian Revolution and the Stalin years. Throughout her career, Sheila carried her violin across the globe as a personal “talisman” to herself and the places she lived and worked.
Starting the violin at age five, Sheila played on an 18th-century Italian violin (Antonia da Costa, 1742) which she owned through a strange coincidence. The violin that was originally found in a barn in Sale and sold through a Melbourne shop owner at the time, turned out to be truly authentic, as later affirmed by luthier Jacques Francais in New York. This very violin accompanied Sheila across the globe. While studying in the Soviet Union in the 1970s, Sheila experienced the stark division between professional and amateur music-making in Russia. With few opportunities to play as a hobby, she routinely checked conservatorium notice boards and auditioned for orchestral positions, reminiscing on experiences she’d never forget – what it meant to move to Soviet Russia in the 1960s and how music reflected the society.
AYO 1963 National Music Camp; Sheila Fitzpatrick is middle second row, with Kay Dreyfus on her left.
Being part of the annual AYO National Music Camp was a major part of Sheila’s adolescent years. Her first NMC in 1956 was transformative—taking time off school to travel to Sydney, being billeted with families, and playing in an orchestra for a week under the mentorship of teachers from across Australia. Before getting to NMC at sixteen, Sheila said she had practically been treating playing the violin as a matter of exercising the required muscles, rather than something that she could think deeply about.
She credits this transformative shift to the mentorship she received at AYO and says it was Ernest Llewellyn OBE, NMC tutor in 1956 and founder of the Canberra School of Music who inspired her most: “Up until that point I had internalised a notion of practice as the opposite of any intellectual activity. He basically said, when you practice, use your intelligence. In other words, practice to improve something, work out what needs improving and how to improve it and do that.”
AYO 1956 National Music Camp; from left to right: Patricia Byrne on flute, Sheila Fitzpatrick on violin, Kirsten Burke on cello, and Juliet Lewis on viola.
Seeing how far AYO has come since those early days, Sheila was motivated to give back through leaving a bequest to invest in pathways for both pre-professional and non-professional young musicians in Australia. She couldn’t have imagined the orchestra she first joined would one day tour internationally:
“That would’ve seemed bizarre at the time.”
Sheila’s vision for AYO centers on orchestral training continues to be inclusive for all of AYO’s young musicians, regardless of where their career takes place. She believes in investing in the potential of talented young people to nurture a lifelong love and joy for music. Despite her demanding career as a world-leading researcher, Sheila continues to play in orchestras and string quartets—a passion she credits to the formative experiences AYO fostered during her youth.
For Sheila, her gift to AYO ensures that the love and curiosity sparked at age sixteen carries on. Her experience with AYO was far more than training to become a pre-professional musician; it cultivated a deep, holistic understanding of how to think about music and dedicate oneself to a lifelong practice.
The AYO is extremely grateful to Sheila for her contribution to the longevity and continued growth of AYO’s next generation of musicians.
Leaving a gift in your Will is a powerful way to express your belief in the power of music and the potential of young people. It allows you to make a significant impact, ensuring your love for music lives on.
Please consider leaving a gift to AYO. With your help, we can inspire the next generation of brilliant young musicians and enable opportunities for participants for years to come.
Visit: www.ayo.com.au/donate