SHEARSBY, Agnes

Agnes Shearsby was a pupil of Gordon McBeth in Whanganui and Alfred Bunz in Christchurch. She lived much of her life in Christchurch but also with extended periods in Auckland and Whanganui where she was music mistress at Wanganui Girls High School. She performed at numerous events, leading the Grand Orchestra and the 3YA Orchestra and acting as musical director for a number of stage productions including A la carte in 1922 in which Ngaio Marsh was the stage manager. She regularly appeared on radio broadcasts both as a pianist and also as a presenter and was a regular accompanist at the Competitions. She composed a number of works throughout her life, only one of which appears to have been published. For a period in the late 1910s and early 1920s she was also referred to as Mrs Harry Ellwood.