"Chopin's Birthday Concert" - February 19, 2023 All Saints Church, Ainslie.

by Tony Magee

Friends of Chopin Australia will present “Chopin’s Birthday Concert” at 3pm, February 19, 2023 at All Saints Church, Ainslie.

Outstanding pianist Penelope Thwaites with be joined by Canberra cellist Patrick Suthers and Canberra violinist Kirsten Williams, both outstanding in their own fields.

Pianist Penelope Thwaites. Photo: Roy Isserow

The program will feature Mozart’s “Piano Trio in B flat, K502”, Chopin’s “Ballade No 2 in F, Op.38”, a Thwaites Commission and premiere performance “Au Tombeau de Chopin” for Piano Trio and Chopin’s “Piano Trio in G minor, Op.8”.

Penelope Thwaites:

Born in Chester UK and resident in London for most of her life, Thwaites is a citizen of both Australia and the UK. She won first place on graduation in Music from Melbourne University. 

Her London debut in 1974 at the Wigmore Hall launched an unusually varied career. 

Acclaimed as an intensely communicative concert pianist and recording artist, she is also a composer, writer, editor, broadcaster (including for the BBC), and music festival curator. She has appeared as a recitalist in over 35 countries, and as soloist with leading orchestras in Europe, Australia, and America.

Thwaites is recognised as an international authority on the music of Percy Granger and was Artistic Director of London’s first international Grainger event in 1998, also helping to instigate the monumental 19-CD Grainger recording series on Chandos, in which she was a featured soloist. 

In 2010 she edited The New Percy Grainger Companion, published by Boydell.

Her interest in promoting Australian composition led to her founding and chairing the international Performing Australian Music Competition which took place in London in 2001 and 2008.

As a composer, Thwaites has produced a wide range of works including songs, instrumental, chamber, film music, choral settings, and four musicals. 

Thwaites was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2001 and is a represented composer with the Australian Music Centre.

Kirsten Williams:

One of Australia’s leading violinists, Kirsten Williams has performed widely as a soloist, recitalist and chamber musician, in concert and on ABC radio. 

Violinist and CSO Concertmaster, Kirsten Williams. Photo, CSO Archives

In 2019, she was appointed Concertmaster of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, and in 2021 led the Australian National University’s Women in Music program.

Williams studied with Alice Waten at the Sydney Conservatorium and with Igor Ozim in Switzerland. 

She then joined the Royal Opera House Orchestra at Covent Garden and the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, touring and recording widely.

On returning to Australia, Williams was appointed Associate Leader of the Australian Chamber Orchestra. She has also appeared as guest Concertmaster of the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra, the Sydney Philharmonia and the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. 

From 2000–2019, Williams was Associate Concertmaster with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra.

A dedicated teacher, she has worked with the Sydney and Australian youth orchestras. 

In 2022, she has a central role in the CSO’s Kingsland Program for emerging artists, leading both the Canberra Symphony Youth Chamber Orchestra for advanced players aged 14 to 19, and the Kingsland Collective for tertiary and postgraduate musicians.

Williams has a passion for music for healing: she has recorded two CDs for the Australian Bush Flower Essences and in 2014, was named Volunteer of the Year for her work playing in the Intensive Care Unit at Westmead Children’s Hospital. That same year, she became patron of the Goulburn Strings Project, designed to bring music education to children in low-socioeconomic, regional contexts.

Patrick Suthers:

Patrick Suthers is the Principal Cellist of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra (CSO), a position he has held since 2012.

Canberra Symphony Orchestra Principle Cellist, Patrick Suthers. Photo: Martin Ollman 

Suthers studied cello at the Australian National University’s Canberra School of Music with David Pereira and Julian Smiles. He graduated with First Class Honours and a University Medal.

Suthers musical training also included a Fellowship with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. As a Fellow, in addition to working regularly with the SSO, he performed frequent chamber music concerts with the SSO Fellowship Ensemble, including private performances for Pope Benedict XVI, and received chamber tuition from the Takacs Quartet, the Jerusalem Quartet, and visiting international soloists.

Suther’s career as a cellist has included extensive orchestral work, including with the Canberra, Sydney, Queensland (Associate Principal) and Tasmanian symphony orchestras. 

He has also enjoyed the opportunity to perform in a variety of chamber ensembles and orchestras, orchestras for opera, ballet and film scoring, and in music education concerts.

Suthers has also enjoyed a successful career in the Australian Public Service. He lives in Canberra with his wife Caroline, who plays viola with the CSO, and their two children and two miniature schnauzers. His interests outside music include food, wine, and film.