THWAITES, Penelope

  PENELOPE THWAITES AM was born in Chester, UK of Australian parents and grew up in Melbourne, Australia. She graduated from Melbourne University with First Class Honours, winning the Ormond Exhibition and being placed first in her final year. After a period of working in musical theatre, she continued her piano studies in London with the Swiss pianist Albert Ferber, as well as orchestration studies with William L Reed. Her 1974 Wigmore Hall debut led to further solo and chamber concerts there and in London’s major concert halls, as well as concertos with the Philharmonia Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra and many others. She has toured in over 30 countries. Resident in London, she has remained a strong ambassador for Australian composers, making a point of including Australian works in her many recordings, broadcasts and live performances. She founded and twice ran the Performing Australian Music Competition in London. Young musicians from 20 countries performed music by 80 Australian composers. Her work was recognised in 2001 by her appointment to The Order of Australia (AM).

Penelope’s recordings cover a wide range of composers, but it is as a pioneering exponent of the music of Percy Grainger, as well as for her editorship of The New Percy Grainger Companion, that she is most particularly known and admired. In January 2019, ABC Classics included her as one of Australia’s best classical performers, describing her playing as “simply exquisite”. BBC Music Magazine commented “passion undimmed….the playing’s flair and precision is unchanged”.

Penelope has written innumerable songs, four musicals, a ballet, piano and chamber music. Her musical Ride! Ride! (with Alan Thornhill) about the 18th-century revolutionary John Wesley, played in London’s West End in 1976, following a national UK tour of 12 cities. It has had 42 productions worldwide since then.

Further information about Penelope’s published and self-published works may be found