Music has always formed a major part of my life including playing solo piano, and leading small groups, including: duos, trios, and quartets and as a section player in concert and wind symphonic bands. I have played publicly on numerous occasions, including jazz, popular show music and classical works.
While music has always been personal priority, it is a sensitive flower easily pushed aside to take second or third place to competing demands. But I decided to put in the ‘hard yards’ to advance my appreciation of jazz theory and practice, and in 1989 after three years of night school, was awarded a Post Graduate Diploma in Education (Jazz) at the SA College of Advanced Education. It meant that I had transited from a fragmented musical background to post graduate level in one gigantic stretch. I must acknowledge with thanks the contribution of Eric Bryce AM in advancing my musical knowledge and also to Sydney based Judy Bailey OAM teacher at the Sydney Conservatorium.
Like most musicians Pem started young and being passionate about his music he rebelled against the tedium of formal classical piano teaching at about the age of 12 years old. Read more about Pem’s Early Music Career.
Pem’s performance experience has been grouped into five categories – Solo Piano, Duos, Trios, Quartets /Quintets and Larger Groups. Click to find out more about the groups in each category – Performance Experience.
Over the years we recorded a range of tracks from the various groups and produced two CDs. Sample tracks from these CDs are included in the individual group pages. The covers and content are presented in Music Recordings.
In a lifetime of reading widely on jazz, attending many concerts and playing in various size aggregations from solo through to small groups and also big bands, something like 25 such groups. I had gathered an extensive knowledge of jazz which was put to good use in a series of broadcasts entitled ‘The Sound of Jazz’ for 2RES in Sydney. Details can be found in Jazz History Broadcasting.
My achievements in music have been extensive as can be seen by my Music CV and samples of the Music Publicity for performances of the groups I have performed with over the years.