James Penberthy AM (3 May 191729 March 1999) was an Australian

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

and

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Biography

He was born Albert James Penberthy in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

in 1917. He served with the

Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the navy, naval branch of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (Australia), Chief of Navy (CN) Vice admiral (Australia), Vice Admiral Mark Hammond (admiral), Ma ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He then studied at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, where he obtained first class honours in composition. He later studied composition with

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, and conducting with Sir

John Barbirolli Sir John Barbirolli ( Giovanni Battista Barbirolli; 2 December 189929 July 1970) was a British conductor and cellist. He is remembered above all as conductor of the Hallé Orchestra in Manchester, which he helped save from dissolution in 1943 ...

in England. He made his home in

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, Western Australia, where he founded the West Australian Opera Company and was co-founder of the

West Australian Ballet West Australian Ballet (WAB) is the state ballet company of Western Australia and is based at the Western Australian Ballet Centre in Maylands, an inner suburb of Perth. Founded in 1952 by Kira Bousloff (formerly of the Ballets Russes), it i ...

with his third wife, the Monaco-born Russian dancer Kira Bousloff. In 1975 he moved to the north coast of

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. He founded the School of Arts at

Southern Cross University Southern Cross University (SCU) is an Australian public university, with campuses at Lismore and Coffs Harbour in northern New South Wales, and at Coolangatta, the most southern suburb of the Gold Coast in Queensland. In 2019, it was ranke ...

. He died at

Maclean, New South Wales Maclean is a town in Clarence Valley Council, Clarence Valley Local government in Australia, local government area in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia. It is on the Clarence River (New South Wales), Clarence River and ne ...

, in 1999.

Works

He wrote prolifically in many genres, but is best known for his 22 ballets and 11 operas. Among his most often performed pieces are ''The Beach Inspector and the Mermaid'' and ''Ophelia of the Nine Mile Beach''. Many of his works have Australian Indigenous connections: the ballets ''Euroka'' (1947), ''Brolga'' (1949), ''Boomerang'' (1951), ''The Whirlwind'' (1954) and ''Kooree and the Mists'' (1960) are all based on Aboriginal legends, with ''Kooree and the Mists'' being written for Mary Joyce Miller, the first Aboriginal ballet dancer in Western Australia. The operas ''Larry'' (1955), ''The Earth Mother'' (1958) and ''Dalgerie'' (1958) explore the relationships between the Indigenous inhabitants and the European settlers. Penberthy's ''Piano Concerto No. 2'' (1955) is subtitled "Aboriginal". ''Julunggul and Kadjari'' (1957) is a ritual dance for orchestra. His ''Sextet for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and two bassoons'' (1954) employs Aboriginal melodies and rhythms.

Personal life

Penberthy was married four times, all four marriages ending in divorce. He had a son (David) with Dorothy (née Kerin); a son (Richard) to Barbara (née Paterson); a daughter (Tamara Walters) to Kira Bousloff (née Abricossova), co-founder of the

; and he was also married to Constance (aka Claire) Bramley.

Honours

Penberthy was awarded the degree of Doctor of Music from the University of Melbourne in 1975, and was appointed a Member (AM) of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

in 1986.It's an Honour
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Biography

Works

Personal life

Honours

References

Further reading