Stalwart of Dunedin musical and theatrical groups Honor McKellar and writer Elspeth Sandys, of Wellington, were honoured during a school assembly yesterday.
Miss McKellar was a pupil at Columba College from 1933-37, and, following music and arts degrees from the University of Otago and the Royal Academy of Music in London, she became a freelance singer actively involved in broadcasting and recital work in both New Zealand and England.
She was also a member of a touring opera for the Arts Council of Great Britain, and later returned to New Zealand where she joined Donald Munro doing similar work - the beginnings of the New Zealand Opera Company.
For 15 years, until her retirement, she was the William Evans Senior Lecturer in Voice at the University of Otago.
She has continued to teach privately and was awarded the Queen's Service Medal in 1989, for community service.
Ms Sandys was a pupil at Columba College from 1953-57.
She was dux and head prefect.
She is now an award-winning writer, having published eight novels and two short-story collections.
She also has considerable experience as a stage and radio playwright, and an author of adaptations for BBC Radio and Radio New Zealand.
Having received many awards and fellowships in recognition of her work, in 2006 she was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to literature.
The pair are the fifth and sixth pupils to be inducted, following Dame Alison Roxburgh, Dame Elizabeth Hanan, Isobel Thomson and Dr Cilla McQueen last year.
