Wight Memorial Medal for Music

In 1891 the Wight Memorial Medal for Music was first presented to a student who demonstrated excellence in piano performance. The Wight Memorial Medal was created in memory of Anne Wight (1881), past student, pupil governess, assistant teacher and music teacher at Brisbane Girls Grammar School.

In February 1890, Anne (Annie) Wight and her sister Isabel (Betty) boarded the RMS Quetta bound for England. Annie had concluded her music teaching position at the School in 1889 and was heading to Germany to further her studies in pianoforte. On the evening of 28 February, The Quetta struck an uncharted reef in the Torres Strait and sank, claiming the lives of the two Wight sisters. In a book titled The Quetta, written by John Foley in 1990, it was noted that a concert rehearsal was happening in the music room when the ship struck the reef.

The Wight Memorial Medal was established by Miss Amy Barrington who was a teacher at BGGS at the time. Along with the support of alumnae, Ethel Lilley, Sybil Lilley, and Helen (Nellie) Griffith, and piano teacher Henrietta Gilder, they raised funds from fellow teachers at the School to establish the Wight Memorial Fund.

The Wight Memorial Medal has been awarded 128 times and a number of students have received the award more than once.

Three students have won the award four times:

1999 to 2002—Helen Godfrey (2002)

2012 to 2016—Tokiwa Onoda (2016)

2017 to 2020—Sophie Shan (2020)