The following is extracted from Volume IV of the 1986 edition of South African Music Encyclopedia (J.P. Malan, ISBN 0 19 570311 1)
GRACE MAE PHILLIPS (née Michelow), contralto, born 3 April 1922 in Johannesburg
Grace Phillips was born of a musical family, and is the sister of Sybil Michelow. She was privately trained in pianoforte and harmony by, among others, Abraham Oberholzer Wagner in Johannesburg, and continued her training in London where she obtained the LTCL Diploma for pianoforte. Later she concentrated exclusively on singing, one of her teachers being Leah Williams, and became well-known as a concert singer specializing in German Lieder and French and Italian art songs. She has given many radio recitals, has appeared as soloist with orchestras in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town and has sung leading opera roles in John Connell's productions of Aida (Verdi) and Carmen (Bizet), and in the PACT presentations of Faust (Gounod) and La Traviata (Verdi). In addition, she has trained children's choirs.
Also an oil and water colour painter, she has exhibited singly and in group exhibitions, mainly in Johannesburg, but also abroad. Later she has devoted herself to calligraphy and has been commissioned to do work for societies and military units, and for the honouring of prominent people.
