Examiner 553

FTCL, LTCL, AMusA

As a trumpet, cornet and tenor horn player, Peter Walmsley OAM has won more than 40 competitions in Australia. He was awarded the Open Champion of Champions title in 1959 at age 15 and remains the youngest-ever winner. Mr Walmsley went on to win the title again in subsequent years, in addition to winning the state junior and senior titles for each of his instruments. In 1964, he won the ABC Concerto Competition for brass, woodwind and percussion instruments.

Mr Walmsley has been a concert soloist with the Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide Symphony Orchestras, as well as many other orchestras, bands and ensembles throughout Australia and overseas. He was a member of the trumpet section of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra for 34 years.

For six decades, Mr Walmsley has been teaching brass instruments. He has presented workshops, masterclasses and recitals in Australia and internationally and has adjudicated competitions and eisteddfods in Australia and New Zealand. Mr Walmsley has been a staff member at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music, the University of New South Wales and the University of Western Sydney. He now teaches brass in his private studio and at Abbotsleigh College and Pymble Ladies’ College.

Mr Walmsley is also experienced as a conductor of bands, ensembles and orchestras. He formed and directed many school bands on Sydney’s North Shore and for 35 years conducted the Willoughby Band. Mr Walmsley also spent 35 years as Director of Bands, Brass, Woodwind and Percussion at Barker College, where he established the largest band program in the Southern Hemisphere.

Among other accolades, Mr Walmsley has been honoured as NSW Conductor of the Century. In 2003, he was awarded the Order of Australia Medal for services to music.