The Queen’s Hall Auditorium will be named in honour of local pianist Winifred Atwell.

Born in 1915 in Tunapuna, Atwell became renowned on the international stage through her combination of classical music with “boogie woogie” and “ragtime” music.

Her passion for piano began at a young age and she became popular locally, playing for British and American servicemen at the Air Force base in Trinidad.

Atwell moved to New York to study piano technique with the celebrated classical pianist, Alexander Borovsky and in 1946 she moved to Britain where she studied at the Royal Academy of Music.

She went on to sell over 20 million records, appear in the first Royal Variety Performance for Queen Elizabeth II and become the first recording-artist from Britain to have three hits selling one million records.

These hits were ‘Black and White Rag’ (1952), ‘Let’s Have a Party’ (1953), and ‘Let’s Have Another Party’ (1954).

At Queen’s Hall in the late 1960s that Winifred Atwell collaborated with the “Pan Am Jet North Stars Steel Orchestra” and produced the “Ivory and Steel” album.

In 1969, she was awarded the Hummingbird Medal Gold, for her achievements in music.

Winifred Atwell died in Sydney on February 27, 1983.