Farquhar Wilkinson
Farquhar Davis Wilkinson (20 April 1932 – 25 October 2022) was a New Zealand classical cellist. He was principal cellist with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra from 1955 to 1992. Early life and family Wilkinson was born in Oamaru on 20 April 1932, the son of George Ernest Wilkinson and Vera Maud Wilkinson (née Flamank). The family moved to Dunedin, where George Wilkinson taught music at Dunedin Teachers' College, and Farquhar began learning to play the cello when he was five years old; with Miss Ethel Frye as his teacher, he passed the grade 1 cello examination of the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music with distinction in 1941. He gained a diploma as an Associate of Trinity College London (ATCL) in cello in 1948. From 1945 to 1948, Wilkinson was educated at Otago Boys' High School. He gained entry to the Royal College of Music in London, and travelled there in 1949 to further his cello studies. In 1954, Wilkinson married Barbara Gwendoline Welch, and the couple went on to have five daughters. Career After graduating from the Royal College of Music, Wilkinson played with the Sadler's Wells Ballet for a time, before returning to New Zealand