Geoffrey Lancaster

Geoffrey Lancaster AM (born 1954) is an Australian classical pianist and conductor. Born in Sydney, he studied piano in Canberra with Larry Sitsky. He also studied at the Sydney Conservatorium graduating with a Doctor of Philosophy, and also completed a Masters degree at the University of Tasmania. In 1984, he moved to Amsterdam to study fortepiano with Stanley Hoogland at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague. In 1996 he was a professor at the Royal College of Music in London. Since 2000, he has been based in Canberra.

Life and career

Lancaster is an expert in historical performance practice of Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven and has appeared as concerto soloist and conductor with all of the major Australian orchestras including the Symphony Orchestras of Queensland, Melbourne, and Sydney, the Australian Chamber Orchestra and Tasmania Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Toronto. He has toured Germany, Switzerland, China and Japan 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 for Musica Viva. He has worked extensively with the German conductor Markus Stenz, as well as with Bruno Weil, Sir Charles Mackerras, Gustav Leonhardt, and Nikolaus 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 and fortepiano at the Australian 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 the Australia Council for his outstanding artistic contribution to the nation.

In 2000, Lancaster was awarded the "H. C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship" at the Australian National University. Past recipients of this fellowship include the painter Arthur Boyd.

In 2006 recognising his inspirational role as musician and mentor, Geoffrey was named Australian of the Year for the Australian Capital Territory, as part of the National Australia Day Awards. He also received University 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, and Supraphon. He won an ARIA, the Australian 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]