Louis Henry Lavenu was an English-born musician and impresario. He became well known in the Australian colonies during the 1850s as an operatic and orchestral conductor, and he gained widespread acclaim for his role in organising and directing tours by visiting international stars such as Irish-born soprano Catherine Hayes, and Viennese violinist Miska Hauser. Lavenu died suddenly in Sydney in 1859, shortly after the conclusion of the Sydney University Music Festival, of which he had been musical director. At the time, the Empire described him as 'the greatest master of operatic and orchestral music that Australia ever had the fortune to welcome on her shores'. His funeral, conducted at Christ Church, Sydney, attracted one of the largest crowds then seen in the colony, the procession being led by the band of the Royal Artillery, who played the Dead March from Handel's Saul. Lavenu's friends and supporters subsequently organised a series of benefit concerts for his wife and children.
