Julianne D. McLean

The granddaughter of early Wichita mayor, bank president and
pioneer, Ben McLean, and the daughter of Elizabeth McLean, West Wichita developer. A well-known concert pianist, Julianne was the beloved piano teacher of multiple generations of Wichita students. Precocious in her childhood and youth, she graduated from North High and began college at the age of 16, earning her Bachelor's degree in music as Valedictorian by the age of 20, and her Master's degree at 21, both on full scholarship and both from the Kansas City Conservatory of Music. Post-graduate studies followed at the Juilliard in New York City where fellow students included Van Cliburn and John Browning, both of whom became her lifelong friends. In NYC she also studied voice under the renowned choral conductor, Robert Shaw, and was an accomplished classical soprano, singing in The Robert Shaw
Collegiate Chorale. Additional piano studies followed at the Santa Cecilia Academy of Music in Rome, and for nearly a decade she concertized throughout Europe in major venues including the Salzburg Mozarteum in Austria, the Queen Elisabeth International Concours in Brussels, and she was the first American woman pianist ever allowed to broadcast a live performance over Vatican Radio. She and her husband were married in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in 1958. She was a surviving passenger of the sinking of the Italian luxury liner,
the Andrea Doria, in 1956, for which she was featured in a National Geographic documentary on the 40th anniversary and in an Italian documentary on the 50th anniversary. In the early 1970s she learned computer programming and for nearly the next 20 years she was employed full-time as a systems analyst, first at the Pentagon outside our nation's capital and then locally for Cessna and Boeing, all the while continuing her concert performances and her piano teaching. A past-President of the local Mu Phi Epsilon chapter, she was listed in the Who's Who in America and the Who's Who of American Women, and she served on the international Advisory Board of Directors of the
Maud Powell Society for Music and Education. In 2013 she was the recipient of the prestigious Burton Pell "Outstanding Musician" Award given by the Wichita Arts Council to individuals "who have devoted their lives to music" and who "have made significant contributions to the Arts in the Wichita area." She leaves a vast collection of transcriptions and recordings which include eleven CDs from radio broadcasts, studio and live concert performances, in solo recital and in collaboration with orchestras and other soloists.

Preceded in death by her brother, Benjamin Franklin McLean II, who was killed in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, after whom the residential district Benjamin Hills is named, and by her parents. Survived by her daughter Angela Elizabeth McLean. Visitation Thursday August 27 from 1 to 5 pm at Old Mission Mortuary. Rosary 6:30 p.m. Friday, August 28th, funeral mass 10:30 a.m. Saturday, August 29th, both at St. Jude Catholic Church, 3030 N. Amidon, Wichita, KS 67204. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests contributions be made to the Ben McLean Elementary School, in honor of the Julianne McLean Memorial Fund, 2277 N. Marigold, Wichita, KS 67204.!