Lindsay Armstrong (b. 1942) and Gillian Smith (b. 1942)

This recording was compiled at Lindsay and Gillian’s home in Ranelagh. Lindsay was born in Belfast, and was taught to play the oboe by Derek Bell of The Chieftains. He was awarded a scholarship to the Academy in London and was invited to join the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra in Dublin in 1963. He recalls meeting Aloys Fleischmann in Dublin, when he conducted the orchestra, and he and Gillian, his wife, were later to spend many happy evenings in the Fleischmann home, through the friendship which existed between the Fleischmann family and Olive Smith, Gillian’s mother. He discusses the setting up of the new Irish Chamber Orchestra in 1970 and his deep involvement with it. His wife, Gillian Smith, talks about her career in music, and explains that Aloys Fleischmann and her mother, Olive Smith, were co-campaigners in the promotion of the very important Music Association of Ireland from its foundation in 1948/1949. In 1952, a book entitled “Music in Ireland – A Symposium” was published for the MAI by Cork University Press, and its editor was Prof. Aloys Fleischmann.