Nadine Amadio (1929 - 2009)

The Amadio name in Australia is synonymous with fine music. Nadine's father, Leon, played the trumpet and all his brothers were musical: Neville, principal flautist with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, deserved his international reputation; Clive, of saxophone and clarinet fame, had a long-running program on ABC Radio; Harry played wind instruments before turning to real estate. Nadine's great-uncle, John Bell Amadio, was a well-known virtuoso flautist with his own concert performance team and who married the grand singer Florence Austral. Another great-uncle, Adrian Amadio is believed by some to be the greatest flautist of all. A cousin, Judy Amadio, was a noted flautist, recitalist and music teacher. Nadine's second marriage was to Ray Price, the jazz musician.

When 15 years old and with a nature inclined towards the rebellious, Nadine was on an extended holiday at Heide, the home of the Melbourne art patrons John and Sunday Reed, when she saw her first Charles Blackman painting, from his Alice In Wonderland series. She also met, through the Reeds, Arthur Boyd, Sidney Nolan, Albert Tucker, John deBurgh Perceval and Joy Hester. Her Heide experience nourished her love of the arts and, after a brief first marriage, she threw herself into the art world. She acquired a large art collection.

She became a devoted friend, muse and mentor to Blackman, collaborated with John Coburn and created scenarios for choreographer Barry Moreland's ballets. When asked by members of an international company how they could achieve a high profile in Australia, she suggested the Moët Chandon Art Award, which projected several emerging artists into prominence.

As books became her refuge, myth, magic, dreaming and angels inhabited her creative world. In later life, by way of explaining her two-hour lateness for a meeting, she announced that she had been reading in her garden and nodded off. She dreamt that an angel had appeared, lifted off the top of her head and slipped into Amadio's mind. She then glided up into the sky, flew to Albert Namatjira's Dreaming place in Central Australia and swooped back and forth over the Red Centre.

Her children's books include: Alice In Rainforestland (with Blackman illustrations); The Cloudman (with David Boyd paintings); Amanda And The Dachshund; Jamie's Adventures In The Land Of Music and The Magic Shell.

She wrote a book based on the 13-part TV series Pacifica: Myth, Magic And The Traditional Wisdom From The South Sea Islands, one of several collaborations with the filmmaker and photographer John Tristram. A biographical film about Gordon Bennett, the first indigenous winner of the Moët Chandon, Black Angels: A Widening Vision, was another.

Three of the films for which she wrote the script won international awards: Albert Namatjira, Giants Of Time; and Peggy Glanville-Hicks: A Modern Odyssey. Her favourite, Giants of Time (1990), is a poetic celebration of age.

Her other publications include: John Coburn: Paintings; Orpheus, The Song Of Forever, Blackman and Wildbird Dreaming: Aboriginal Art from the Central Deserts of Australia (with Richard Kimber). She wrote Blackman's biography and set up the Blackman Trust.

In the 1960s, Nadine was the Sydney representative for Clifford Hocking, the late concert impresario and festival director who lived in Melbourne and brought to Australia shows with the early Barry Humphries and Cleo Lane. After her third marriage, to Doug Saunders, the couple set up Amadio-Saunders Concert Management, promoting shows by Australian and overseas musicians. She wrote reviews of concerts and articles about music and visual arts for The Sunday Telegraph and The Australian Financial Review.

Personal data

Nadine Amadio was born on 22nd September 1929, in Woollahra, New South Wales, Australia. She was the only daughter of Leon Amadio and Phyllis Bicknell. ^[1] Her mother had tuberculosis and the parents' marriage failed when Nadine and her brother, John, were very young. The children went to live with their grandparents and Nadine attended Canterbury Girls High School and St Scholastica's, Glebe, although she missed a lot of school due to asthma.

Nadine married three times:

• Russell Hausfeld, 1948 (to 1949) in Sydney, New South Wales, ^[2]
• Ray Price, 13th February 1953 (to 1968) in St Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Sydney. ^[3]
• Douglas Saunders, 1968 in New South Wales until her death. ^[4] The couple purchased and transformed a Turramurra church into their home.

In 2007, Nadine sold much of her art collection, and she and Doug moved from their Turramurra home to live with their daughter, Gabrielle Sunday, at Lemon Tree Passage near Port Stephens, a truly beautiful part of New South Wales.

Aged 79 years, Nadine passed away in January 2009 in Sydney, New South Wales. ^[5] She is survived by Doug, their daughter, Gabrielle, and her brother, John.

Sources

1. ↑ unsubstantiated family records
2. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #7637/1948
3. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #824/1953
4. ↑ New South Wales Marriage Index #2441/1968
5. ↑ Stephens,_Tony:_Nadine_Amadio;_21st_January_2009