ARTISTS

Penelope Thwaites

Penelope Thwaites has established an international reputation as solo pianist and specialist in the music of Australian composer Percy Grainger. As concerto soloist she has appeared with the London Philharmonic, the Philharmonia, City of London Sinfonia and BBC Concert Orchestra in the UK, and with leading orchestras in Australia, Europe and America. 

Artistic Director of the 1998 London Grainger Event, Penelope has recorded over 250 tracks of Percy Grainger’s solo piano, chamber and orchestral works. She was awarded the International Grainger Society’s Medallion in 1991 and the Order of Australia in 2001 for services to Australian Music. 

Well-known for her many Duo piano concerts and recordings with John Lavender,  Penelope has recently built a new Trio with two prize-winning young musicians, cellist Marie Macleod and violinist Dima Tkachenko. The trio’s debut recital at the Wigmore Hall was enthusiastically praised by Musical Opinion for its “dramatic account of Mendelssohn’s First Piano Trio”, as well as for its performance of  English composer William Reed’s exciting piano trio.

Penelope’s current repertoire includes solo piano, duo and trio programmes, combining classic, romantic and more contemporary piano pieces from composers like Bach, Brahms, Chopin and Shostakovich with a fine selection of Percy Grainger’s original works and folk-settings. The Times praised Penelope for “an absorbing recital… Interesting harmony and unexpected textures were sensitively handled… thickly clustered notes were masterfully deployed.” Her most recent solo disc for Chandos drew from The Delian the comment: “I cannot imagine a more beautiful piano sound…one CD all Delians and Graingerities should have…”

 

Artists who have recorded on the London Independent Label: