AUT honours Don McGlashan

Don McGlashan's outstanding contributions to contemporary music, artistic development and social reform have been recognised by the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) through an Honorary Doctorate.

“I’m proud to accept this Honorary Doctorate.  I believe strongly in institutions like AUT. They provide vital environments that challenge us and help us learn how to think. I’m also glad that the AUT has chosen to recognise the Performing Arts in this way,” said Don.

Don McGlashan has made important contributions to New Zealand culture in a variety of fields – as singer, song-writer, multi-instrumentalist and composer of film and television music.

He has won major music awards, such as two Silver Scrolls, and was honoured as a Laureate by the Arts Foundation in 2002. He has also received Literary Fellowships and Writer’s Residencies. His work has had a deep influence within the community, with five of his songs being included in the APRA list of New Zealand’s 100 Top Songs of all time. ‘Anchor Me’ is performed at many public occasions (including weddings, funerals and memorials). Other widely known songs such as ‘Dominion Road’ and ‘Harbour Bridge’ reflect his thoughtful involvement with our local way of life.

His music for soundtracks has made a huge contribution to the New Zealand film and television industries, including feature-films such as An Angel at My Table, No.2, The Dead Lands and Matariki, among many others.

He has helped to bridge the fields of classical, experimental and popular music with his involvement in a wide range of groups, including the Auckland Philharmonia, From Scratch, Blam Blam Blam, The Mutton Birds and the Seven Sisters. He was also part of an iconic theatre/music group, The Front Lawn, and provided music for the major dance groups Limbs and the Laura Dean Dancers.

Maintaining a career as a serious musician is hard work even for an outstanding artist such as McGlashan, and the fact that he has done so for 40 years reflects his deep commitment to our cultural life. Along the way, he has also displayed great integrity and generosity.

He has also displayed a deep commitment to the democratic health of our society, campaigning against racism and nuclear testing in the Pacific, and for the introduction of MMP. He was active in the 1981 anti-tour movement and against the proposed 1985 All Black tour of South Africa. His campaign included co-writing and performing the song “Don’t Go”, which went to No. 2 on the charts. Again with the Mutton Birds, he challenged the resumption of French nuclear testing in the Pacific by staging an impromptu band show outside the French Embassy in London in 1995, and reading an anti-testing message to crowds all across France during a stadium tour supporting the Scottish band Simple Minds. McGlashan has also been a social activist in other areas such as helping Algerian refugee cleric Ahmed Zaoui to gain a fair hearing in the mid-2000s.

He has been an eloquent advocate for New Zealand musicians during his six years (2010-16) as the country’s representative on the board of the Australasian Performing Right Association.