Wendy van Delden, QSM

Queen’s Service Medal

2022 Queen’s Birthday and Platinum Jubilee Honours

For Services to Music

Congratulations to our Concert Manager Wendy van Delden, who received a QSM (Queen’s Service Medal) in Queen’s Birthday  2022 and Platinum Jubilee Honours List.

The official citation reads:

Mrs Wendy van Delden was a foundation member of the Waikanae Music Society (WMS) in 1978 and has been Concert Manager since 1981.

Through WMS Mrs van Delden has organised around eight concerts annually for audiences of 200 to 300, involving both national and international artists. She has liaised with Chamber Music New Zealand (CMNZ) and other musical organisations, playing a key role in WMS becoming one of the most successful organisations of this kind in New Zealand.

In 2008 she helped establish the Waikanae Music Society Charitable Trust for Young Musicians and continues to run it presently. She helped to introduce the Society’s two student concerts a year, providing an opportunity for school students to gain experience performing in public. She was involved in fundraising for the replacement of the grand piano in 2011 and has hosted a monthly radio programme Concert Notes on Coast Access Radio for many years.

She has had a lifetime career as a teacher of piano and theory, with many students going on to musical careers.

She has had an involvement with various rose societies over 30 years and is a current member of the Manawatu Rose Society. Mrs van Delden has been a regular exhibitor and judge at lower North Island rose shows