Professor Geoffrey Lancaster AO

Geoffrey is a Professor at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

Background

Geoffrey Lancaster has been at the forefront of the historically-informed performance practice movement for 40 years. He was the first Australian to win a major international keyboard competition, receiving First Prize in the 23rd Festival van Vlaanderen International Fortepiano Competition, Brugge.

He is Artistic Director with Ensemble of the Classic Era and a member of the Council of the Australian Youth Orchestra, and was Director of the Tasmanian Symphony Chamber Players, and Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of La Cetra Barockorchester Basel.

Lancaster has appeared with all of Australia's major orchestras and the Australian Chamber Orchestra, and as soloist with the Gürzenich Orchestra Köln, Leipzig Gewandhaus, Düsseldorfer Symphoniker, Dortmund Philharmonic, Indianapolis Symphony, Ensemble 415 of Geneva, Tafelmusik Baroque Orchestra, Hong Kong Sinfonietta, New Zealand Symphony, Rotterdam Philharmonic, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic, and Concerto Copenhagen. He has featured in the Sydney, Shanghai and Mostly Mozart festivals, and the Australian Festival of Chamber Music, among many others.

His more than 50 CDs for Tall Poppies, ABC Classics, Sony Classical, and Supraphon have won such awards as the Gramophone Best Recording, ARIA Best Classical Album, Sounds Australian Award, and Soundscapes Editor's Choice.

A master teacher of keyboard and historical performance practice, he has taught at the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, Royal Conservatory of The Hague, Royal College of Music, Royal Academy of Music, Mozarteum, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, and the Royal Northern College of Music. Former Curator of Musical Instruments at the Powerhouse Museum, he was an Australian Artists Creative Fellow from 1992-1996. He was awarded the HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship by The Australian National University and joined the ANU School of Music faculty in 2000, where he was Head of Keyboard until 2010 and served on ANU's Academic Board. He received ANU Top Supervisor awards in 2009 and 2012.

He is an Honorary Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, and a Fellow of the Australian College of Educators. He was ACT Australian of the Year in 2006, is an Honorary Ambassador for Canberra, and received the Order of Australia (AO) in 2022 for his service to music education, performance research and philanthropy.

Professional associations

• Australasian Piano Pedagogy Association
• Life Governor of the National Gallery of Australia Foundation
• Council of the Australian Youth Orchestra

Awards and recognition

National and International Awards

• Order of Australia (AO)
• Honorary Ambassador for Canberra
• 2006 - ACT Australian of the Year
• Order of Arts and Letters
• Sounds Australian Award
• Canberra Critics' Circle Award
• Distinguished Alumni Award, University of Tasmania
• 2003 - HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship, ANU
• 1992 to 1996 - Australian Artists Creative Fellowship, Australia Council
• ARIA Best Classical Album
• Gramophone Best Recording
• 1st Prize, 23rd Festival of Flanders International Fortepiano Competition, Bruges

University and National Teaching Awards

• 2009 & 2012 - Top Supervisor Award, ANU
• 1999 - Excellence in Teaching Award, UWA

National and International Research Positions

• Honorary Fellow, Australian Academy of the Humanities
• Fellow, Australian College of Educators
• Fellow, Royal Society of Arts

Research areas and interests

• Music performance
• Performing arts and creative writing
• Curatorial and related studies
• Curriculum and pedagogy
• Historically-informed 17th, 18th and early 19th century performance practice
• The first fleet piano
• The keyboard sonatas of Joseph Haydn