CAIROS-REGO, Iris De

Iris de Cairos-Rego was an Australian pianist, composer and teacher, born in Marrickville, Sydney, on 31 January 1894 and died in 1987. She came from a musical family: her father, George de Cairos-Rego, was a pianist, teacher, music critic and composer, and her brother Rex was also active as a singer, pianist and composer.

Recognised as a child prodigy, Iris passed the Trinity College senior examination at the age of nine and performed her own piano pieces in public while still a child. In 1907 she travelled to Europe for further study, spending most of her time in Berlin, where she studied piano with Alberto Jonás and harmony at the Stern Conservatorium. After returning to Australia in 1910, she appeared as a pianist with orchestras and chamber ensembles and became one of the early teachers at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music in 1915.

De Cairos-Rego composed mainly for piano, including solo works, piano duets and chamber music involving piano. Many of her works were written during her long association with Frensham School in Mittagong, where she taught for much of her career. Her compositions include Toccata for Piano (The Train), Bushland Sketches, Graneen Vale, Waltz Caprice, Waltz in E Major, Four Sketches, Canzonetta and Piano Trio. Her music reflects the Australian piano tradition of the early twentieth century, combining lyrical, descriptive and pedagogical elements.