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Vale: Tommy Tycho

Conductor, composer and arranger 'Maestro' Tommy Tycho died in Sydney last week, aged 84.

2013-04-07_0005Conductor, composer and arranger ‘Maestro’ Tommy Tycho died in Sydney last week, aged 84.

Hungarian born Tycho was a musical director for the Seven Network from 1956–1971.

He composed, arranged, orchestrated, improvised and performed, most notably for The Mavis Bramston Show and Sydney Tonight. He composed for Number 96, Riptide, The Gordon Chater Show, and My Name’s McGooley, What’s Yours?

From Sammy Davis Jr to Frank Sinatra, Shirley Bassey to Lorrae Desmond, Mel Torme to Jerry Lewis, Louis Armstrong to Ethel Merman, Tycho backed them all.

In 1971 he retired from the rigours of live TV to freelance as a composer, arranger and conductor.

He appeared at nine Royal Command Performances and conducting all the major Australian and New Zealand symphony orchestras. His provided the backdrop to many momentous openings, including the Sydney Opera House, the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Fox Studios, the Sydney Football Stadium and the Queensland Cultural Centre.

In 1977, Tycho was conferred membership of the Order of the British Empire and in 1987 was appointed a member of the Order of Australia, an received an honorary doctorate from the University of Sydney.

Actor Lorrae Desmond described Tycho as “a wonderful arranger, human being, conductor and friend. He was one of a kind and will be missed”.

Source: The Australian, Sydney Morning Herald

3 Responses

  1. I did see on line that both Tycho and Ebert had died, and i immediately went on sites commenting on the latter, but the former was indeed a maestro and a significant figure in entertainment and well known on the small screen thanks to the litany of light ent shows that lit up the box in the early decades of tv. He too will be missed.

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