The Musica Viva Society was established in Sydney in 1945 by Richard Goldner, a Romanian-born violist, as a chamber music society. It is now one of the largest performing arts societies in Australia with branches across the country that organise concerts and support music education in schools. The Queensland branch has had a long association with the University of Queensland: Gordon Spearritt was President of Queensland branch of Musica Viva Society of Australia from 1968 to 1972 and Donald Munro followed as president from 1973 to 1980.

Born in Bundaberg in 1925, Gordon Donald Spearritt was appointed to The University of Queensland as a lecturer in 1958. As conductor of the University Madrigal Singers (1952-72) he made sixty ABC broadcasts and gave several public concerts. He served as an examiner for AMEB for many years, and is well known for his books on elementary music theory.

Donald Munro AM is a retired academic and arts administrator. He has had a long career in education, notably as the first director of the Institute of Modern Languages at The University of Queensland. He was President of the Queensland Branch of Musica Viva from 1973 to 1980 and is a life member of the organisation. In 1978, he was the Founding Chairman of the Queensland Performing Arts Trust, which was formed to manage the South Bank Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in 1985 for services to the performing arts. In 2010, he published an edited collection of the war diaries of his father, Edward Munro, titled Diaries of a stretcher bearer.