{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{infobox musical artist | name = Tommy Tycho | honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}}, {{post-nominals|country=GBR|MBE}} | birth_place = Budapest, Hungary | birth_date = {{birth date|1928|04|11|df=y}} | death_place = Randwick, New South Wales, Australia | death_date = {{death date and age|2013|04|04|1928|04|11|df=y}} | occupation = Conductor, composer, arranger,musical director | instrument = Piano | genre = Classical music, jazz,popular music | associated_acts = {{hlist|Olivia Newton-John|Julie Anthony|Peter Allen|Hugh Jackman|Dave Brubeck|Dame Shirley Bassey}}<ref name="site" /> }} '''Thomas Tycho''' AM MBE DMus (11 April 1928{{spaced ndash}}4 April 2013)<ref name=imdb>[https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0878706/ IMDb]</ref> was a Hungarian-born Australian pianist, conductor, composer and arranger. He was active in both classical music and pop.
He was associated with musical productions on Australian television for many years from its inception in 1956, including such programs as ''The Mavis Bramston Show''.<ref name=imdb/> The recorded version of the Australian national anthem "Advance Australia Fair" that is now usually used to accompany singers at major sporting and community events is Tommy Tycho's arrangement.<ref name="TT">[http://www.tommytycho.com/home.htm Tommy Tycho website]</ref><ref name=usyd/> He wrote a number of film scores, and his activities bridged both popular and classical styles.
==Biography==
Tycho was born in Budapest in April 1928. His father was a senior government official and his mother was an opera singer<ref name=abc>[http://www.abc.net.au/queensland/conversations/stories/s1893549.htm?nsw ABC]</ref> who had retired to raise a family.<ref name=TH>[https://web.archive.org/web/20121024104430/http://www.abc.net.au/talkingheads/txt/s1445837.htm ABC: Talking Heads, 29 August 2005]</ref> His musical life started as a child prodigy pianist. He played George Gershwin's ''Rhapsody in Blue'' with the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra at age 10.<ref name=TT/><ref name=abc/><ref name=TH/> He had been introduced to the work by his teacher, Egon Petri.<ref name=usyd/><ref name=TH/> He commenced studying at the Franz Liszt Academy of Music in Budapest, where his teachers included Leo Weiner<ref name=TH/> and Zoltán Kodály.<ref name=usyd/><ref>[https://doremi-nsw.blogspot.com/2005/02/maestro-tommy-tycho.html do-re-mi Music for Children (New South Wales)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708033326/http://doremi-nsw.blogspot.com/2005/02/maestro-tommy-tycho.html |date=8 July 2011 }}</ref> He and his parents had adopted Lutheranism in an attempt to disguise their Jewishness,<ref name=abc/> but to no avail – he was interned in a German forced labour camp in 1943 at age 15, and was lucky to survive.<ref name=TH/> He resumed his musical studies after the war, but left Hungary after the Communist takeover while still only in his third year of study. From 1948 to 1951 he lived in Iran, where he was the personal pianist for the Shah of Iran.<ref name=TT/><ref>[https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19820617&id=AUYRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=G-cDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6854,5428564 Jason Dasey, SMH, 17 June 1982]</ref> There he met a Hungarian soprano named Eva Komor, who became his wife.<ref name=TH/> They emigrated to Australia in 1951.
He commenced his musical career at ABC Radio in the 1950s, performing a weekly recital titled ''Handful of Keys'', which led to a regular popular radio program with his own chamber group The Thomas Tycho Players. Tycho joined ATN7 in 1956 and was Musical Director at the Seven Network for 15 years, 1956 to 1971. He composed music for shows such as ''Revue '61 & '62'', ''Startime'', ''The Mavis Bramston Show'', ''Anzacs'', ''Penthouse'', ''Riptide'', and ''You Can't See 'Round Corners'', until he left in 1971. He also composed the theme for the television program and movie, ''Number 96''. Tycho was involved in nine Royal Command Performances, and conducted all the ABC symphony orchestras.<ref name=TT/> His work was an important element of many official openings (Sydney Opera House, Sydney Entertainment Centre, Sydney Football Stadium, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Brisbane 1982 Commonwealth Games, World Expo 88, Darling Harbour, major sporting grand finals, etc.).<ref name=TT/> In 2008 he performed for Crown Princess Mary of Denmark at the opening of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute.<ref name=smh/> (In 1980, after a heart attack, he had been treated by Dr Victor Chang.)<ref name=TH/>
The Australian artists with whom he worked included Peter Allen, Ricky May, Olivia Newton-John, Julie Anthony, John Farnham, Anthony Warlow, Jill Perryman, Barry Crocker, Kamahl, James Morrison, Frank Bennett (Singer, saxophonist), David Campbell, Judi Connelli, violinist Ian Cooper, Suzanne Johnstone, Jackie Love, James Blundell, Don Burrows, Andy Firth, Marina Prior, Rob Guest, Jimmy Little, Tommy Emmanuel, Normie Rowe, Rhonda Burchmore, Ingrid James, Donald Cant and many others.<ref name=TT/> He also worked with overseas performers such as Sammy Davis Jr., Nat King Cole, Shirley Bassey, Louis Armstrong, Jerry Lewis, Frank Sinatra and many others.
Tommy Tycho suffered a serious stroke in 2008.<ref name=smh>[http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/tommy-tycho-in-intensive-care/2008/09/19/1221331205713.html Sydney Morning Herald]</ref><ref>[http://www.strokefoundation.com.au/blog/?p=242 National Stroke Foundation] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20120913023655/http://www.strokefoundation.com.au/blog/?p=242 |date=13 September 2012 }}</ref> He then lived in a nursing home where he received regular therapy; though his left side was paralysed, he still composed and played with his right hand.<ref name=bris>[http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/entertainment/music/maestro-takes-a-bow--and-violin--for-his-next-milestone-20100416-skpr.html Brisbane Times, 17 April 2010]</ref>
Tycho died on 4 April 2013, aged 84, as a result of complications associated with pneumonia.<ref name="site">{{cite news|url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-04/australian-conductor-composer-tommy-tycho-dies/4610048|title=Australian composer Tommy Tycho dies|newspaper=ABC News |date=4 April 2013 }}</ref>
==Compositions== His compositions and arrangements include: * 3 overtures * 3 concertos (for trumpet, violin, piano) ** The Violin Concerto was written around 2000, but did not have its premiere until 10 April 2010; Maria Lindsay, soloist, played with the Lurline Chamber Orchestra at the Randwick Town Hall.<ref name=bris/><ref name="Lurline Chamber Orchestra">[http://lurlineco.com.au/richly-celebrated/ Lurline Chamber Orchestra]{{dead link|date=November 2017|bot=InternetArchiveBot|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>[https://www.lco.org.au http://www.lco.org.au]</ref> * television music (documentary series ''ANZAC'', drama series ''Riptide'', and others) * film scores (''Young Einstein'', ''Reckless Kelly'', many others)<ref name=imdb/> * arranged over 1,500 pieces for film and television, including: ** "Cole Porter Concerto", based on three Cole Porter tunes ** "Fantasia" (based on three Irving Berlin tunes) ** "No Other Love" (symphonic arrangement of the song by Richard Rodgers ** Symphonic arrangement of "Macarthur Park" by Jimmy Webb ** Symphonic arrangement of Cole Porter's "Begin the Beguine" ** "Tiger Rag" (in the style of Art Tatum)<ref name=TT/> * the medal ceremony music for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games * songs for stage revues including ''Lie Back and Enjoy It'' and ''There Will Be an Interval of 15 Minutes'' and a musical ''When We Are Married'' for the Phillip Theatre, and arrangements for a musical ''Get Happy'' (2003)<ref>{{cite web|title=Tommy Tycho|url=https://www.ausstage.edu.au/pages/contributor/234763|website=AusStage|accessdate=26 July 2015}}</ref>
In 2003 Tommy Tycho was commissioned by Symphony Australia to compose an overture for the 75th birthday celebrations of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra. That same year he conducted the Queensland Orchestra for concerts with Anthony Warlow, and many others. He was the arranger and conductor for Warlow's album, ''Let's Face the Music''; and he conducted the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in a Lounge concert.
Tycho wrote a series of special feature arrangements for Australian clarinetist Andy Firth, when Firth was featured as guest artist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra in 2006.
==Discography== ===Charting albums=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1" ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Title ! scope="col" rowspan="2" | Album details ! scope="col" colspan="1" | Peak chart<br />positions |- ! scope="col" style="text-align:center;" | <small>AUS</small><br /><ref name=aus>{{cite book|last=Kent|first=David|authorlink=David Kent (historian)|title=Australian Chart Book 1970–1992|edition=illustrated|publisher=Australian Chart Book|location=St Ives, N.S.W.|year=1993|isbn=0-646-11917-6|page=315}}</ref> |- ! scope="row" | ''Duelling Pianos'' <br> (with Vicki Tycho) | * Released: 1984 * Format: * Label: K-Tel International (NA649) | align="center" | 43 |}
==Honours and awards== Among his many accolades can be counted: * In 1977, Tycho was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE)<ref>[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1088320 It's an Honour: MBE]</ref> * In 1987 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM)<ref>[https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870080 It's an Honour: AM]</ref> * In 1992 he won the Rotary International Paul Harris Fellowship Award, in appreciation of tangible and significant assistance given for furtherance of better understanding and friendly relations among peoples of the world * In 2007 he was conferred the degree of Honorary Doctorate of Music from the University of Sydney.<ref name=usyd>[http://www.usyd.edu.au/senate/Tycho.shtml University of Sydney]</ref>
===Mo Awards=== The Australian Entertainment Mo Awards (commonly known informally as the Mo Awards), were annual Australian entertainment industry awards. They recognise achievements in live entertainment in Australia from 1975 to 2016. Tommy Tycho was Patron of the Mo Awards for many years and won one award during this time..<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.moawards.com.au/awardwinners|title=MO Award Winners|website=Mo Awards|access-date=16 March 2022}}</ref> {{awards table}} (wins only) |- | 1984 | Tommy Tycho | John Campbell Fellowship Award | {{won}} |- {{end}}
==Bibliography== * {{cite book | title=The Tommy Tycho Story : Music, Maestro Please | publisher=Brolga Pub. | publication-place=Ringwood, Victoria, Australia | date=1995 | isbn=0-909608-31-8 | oclc=34960665}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{Cite web|url=https://www.tommytycho.com/|title=Tommy Tycho - The Official Website}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tycho, Tommy}} Category:Jewish Australian musicians Category:Hungarian male conductors (music) Category:Australian conductors (music) Category:Hungarian musical theatre composers Category:Hungarian film score composers Category:Male film score composers Category:Australian film score composers Category:Australian music arrangers Category:Members of the Order of Australia Category:Australian Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Jewish Hungarian musicians Category:Musicians from Budapest Category:1928 births Category:2013 deaths Category:Deaths from pneumonia in New South Wales Category:20th-century Hungarian pianists Category:20th-century Australian pianists Category:21st-century Hungarian pianists Category:21st-century Australian pianists Category:Australian male pianists Category:20th-century conductors (music) Category:20th-century Australian male musicians Category:Daly-Wilson Big Band members Category:Franz Liszt Academy of Music alumni Category:National anthem writers