- Geoffrey Lancaster
Geoffrey Lancaster AM (born 1954) is an
Australian classicalpianist and conductor. Born inSydney , he studied piano inCanberra withLarry Sitsky . He also studied at the Sydney Conservatorium graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy, and also completed a Masters degree at theUniversity of Tasmania . In 1984, he moved toAmsterdam to study fortepiano with Stanley Hoogland at theRoyal Conservatory of The Hague . In 1996 he was a professor at theRoyal College of Music inLondon . Since 2000, he has been based in Canberra.Life and career
Lancaster is an expert in historical performance practice of
Haydn ,Mozart , andBeethoven and has appeared as concerto soloist and conductor with all of the major Australian orchestras including the Symphony Orchestras of Queensland, Melbourne, and Sydney, theAustralian Chamber Orchestra and Tasmania Symphony Orchestra, as well as theTafelmusik Baroque Orchestra ,Toronto . He has touredGermany ,Switzerland ,China andJapan as soloist with leading international orchestras including the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Gurzenich Orchestra of Cologne, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra. He also tours Australia forMusica Viva . He has worked extensively with the German conductorMarkus Stenz , as well as with Bruno Weil, SirCharles Mackerras ,Gustav Leonhardt , andNikolaus Harnoncourt .Lancaster also works with smaller orchestras including the
Canberra Symphony Orchestra and La Cetra Barockorchester Basel as both soloist and conductor. He is artistic director of Ensemble of the Classic Era.Geoffrey Lancaster is also a professor of music and teaches piano
harpsichord andfortepiano at theAustralian National University and also at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis.Awards and Recognition
Geoffrey Lancaster has received many significant awards. In 1986, he won the 23rd Festival of Flanders International Mozart Fortepiano Competition in
Belgium , becoming the first Australian to win a major international keyboard competition.In 1993, Geoffrey Lancaster was awarded the $240,000 four year Australian Artists Creative Fellowship by
Paul Keating and theAustralia Council for his outstanding artistic contribution to the nation.In 2000, Lancaster was awarded the "
H. C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship" at theAustralian National University . Past recipients of this fellowship include the painterArthur Boyd .In 2006 recognising his inspirational role as musician and mentor, Geoffrey was named
Australian of the Year for theAustralian Capital Territory , as part of the NationalAustralia Day Awards. He also receivedUniversity of Tasmania Distinguished Alumni Award, for service to the community.In recognition of his contribution to the arts and music education, he was appointed a Member of the
Order of Australia .Recordings
Geoffrey Lancaster has recorded 30 CDs with major labels including the
Sony Classical label,Australian Broadcasting Corporation ,Tall Poppies , andSupraphon . He won an ARIA, theAustralian Recording Industry Association award for "Best Classical Album" with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra in 1991, and was nominated for the same award 4 times, most recently in 2002. He has also received the Gramphone Award for Best Recording.External links
* [http://www.anu.edu.au/music ANU School of Music site]
* [http://itsanhonour.gov.au Australian Honours site]
* [http://australianoftheyear.gov.au Australian of the Year site]
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