Adelaide Wind Orchestra Home Page

Thomas Greer

AWO Bass Trombone 2015 - 2020

Thomas is a Trombonist in the Australian Army Band, currently serving The Band of the First Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, in Townsville. He started his career in Adelaide freelancing and teaching Trombone. In 2020, he joined the Australian Army Band Adelaide as a reservist before transferring to full-time service in 2021. Highlights of his career include playing Bass Trombone with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra on various occasions, and representing Australia in Turkey for the ANZAC Day commemorations in 2022.

Thomas completed a Bachelor of Music with Honours at the Elder Conservatorium of Music (2011-2014). During his time here, he was a member of the Elder Conservatorium Wind Orchestra (ECWO) which at the time was run by the late Bob Hower. It was Bob's influence that inspired his students to form AWO. Thomas played tenor and bass trombone, and euphonium in both of these ensembles. Thomas’ time playing in ECWO and AWO was invaluable to his development, and formed a crucial bridge between student and professional life.

Andrew Penrose

Founding Principal Percussionist with AWO

Andrew has spent all his years living, learning, and working in South Australia. He began his musical education while growing up in the Riverland town of Renmark, enduring a brief 2 years of piano before his parents finally gave in to his constant begging for drum lessons after the family moved to Victor Harbor.

Tertiary study remained a South Australian affair, completing his Bachelor of Music at the Elder Conservatorium at the University of Adelaide. From 2009 to 2012 Andrew studied with Head of Percussion Amanda Grigg, as well as Adelaide Symphony Orchestra Principal Percussionist Steven Peterka. During this time, he was a recipient of two Elder Conservatorium Director’s Awards, and the John ‘Slick’ Osborn Scholarship for excellence in percussion performance.

In 2010 Andrew won the prestigious Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Snare Drum Award, receiving a year-long mentorship with the percussionists from that orchestra. He also successfully auditioned for the Australian Youth Orchestra, taking part in their 2011 season. Each year from 2010 to 2012, Andrew attended the Australian International Symphony Orchestra Institute in Hobart, and received a Graduate Certificate in Performance (Classical) from the University of Tasmania for his sustained contribution to that program.

While a frequent casual player in the percussion section of the Adelaide Symphony, Andrew returned to Amanda Grigg at the Elder Conservatorium to continue his studies in 2015 and 2016. He received First Class Honours for his performance of two recitals that included intensive orchestral excerpt studies, and famous percussion works by Iannis Xenakis, Lou Harrison, and Andy Akiho.

In January of 2020, Andrew won the position of Principal Timpani with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, and he still bothers his parents with excitable stories about percussion and timpani.

Andrew lives in the Adelaide Hills with his wife, Charise, and his two children Erin and Hamish.

Sami Butler

Principal Percussionist with AWO - 2015 - 2017

Photograph Credit: Claudio Raschella, Courtesy of Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

Sami Butler joined the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra in 2022 as Associate Principal Percussion/Timpani, having previously worked with them as a guest musician since 2015. Prior to his appointment at the ASO, he was the Percussion Fellow twice in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 2017 and 2018, and completed his Bachelor of Music with First Class Honours in 2015 at the University of Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium of Music under the tutelage of Amanda Grigg. Sami has also worked with the Sydney and Tasmanian Symphony Orchestras, and has performed around the world including at the Sydney Opera House, het Concertgebouw and Beijing’s National Centre for the Performing Arts.

Born in Adelaide, Sami began his lifelong involvement in music through his parents who were both musicians of the ASO string section. He was the recipient of awards and scholarships including first place in the 2013 Melbourne Symphony Orchestra Snare Drum Award, the Kamala Khurana and John ‘Slick’ Osborne scholarships from the Elder Conservatorium and the Helpmann Academy’s City of Adelaide Award for top overall classical performance graduate. In 2015, Sami was awarded the EMR Travel Scholarship, allowing him a period of extended study with percussionists of the LA Philharmonic, the Boston Symphony and Metropolitan Opera Orchestras as well as soloist Pius Cheung.

Sami is the director of the Adelaide Youth Orchestras Percussion Ensemble and has served as a guest teacher for masterclasses and lessons in SA and NSW across primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Residing in Fulham Gardens just down the road from where he grew up, Sami is a self-confessed ‘cricket nuffie’ who encourages anyone to engage him in conversation about Ricky Ponting’s pull shot.

Sami is supported by Zildjian cymbals and Vic Firth sticks.

Natalie Williams

Hornist with AWO - 2014 - 2018

Natalie Williams was born in South Australia and educated at Brighton Secondary School on a music scholarship. She holds a Bachelor of Music - Honours (Classical Performance) from the University of Adelaide Elder Conservatorium and a Graduate Certificate of Music Studies from the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.

Natalie has worked as a freelance horn player, ensemble director and brass teacher both in Australia and New Zealand. In 2019 she joined the Royal New Zealand Navy Band as a full-time Musician specialising in horn. In her spare time she enjoys giving back to the band community in her role as Musical Director of North Shore Concert Band in Auckland.

Natalie attributes her time in AWO as being a fundamental part of her development as a musician. It was performing with AWO that inspired her passion for symphonic wind music.

Peter Handsworth

Founding Conductor of AWO 2012 - 2015

Peter Handsworth began his formal studies in clarinet with David Shephard at the Elder Conservatorium. As a recipient of a QEII
Silver Jubilee Trust Award and ABC Young Performers Award he undertook postgraduate studies with Professor Wolfgang Meyer at the renowned Hochschule für Musik in Karlsuhe, Germany. This was the beginning of a successful international performing career that
has taken him to all parts of the world performing as a soloist, chamber and orchestral musician, and teacher.

Peter Handsworth has been invited to perform and teach at numerous international music festivals including Lochenhaus, Schleswig Holstein, Weimar festivals and the Symphony Orchestra Academy of the Pacific. He has recorded widely, including an EMI Classics recording Blues for Sabine with Sabine Meyer and Eddie Daniels and has performed on numerous occasions for radio broadcasts in Australia and Europe. His most recent CD Tango is a duo collaboration with guitarist Oliver Fartach-Naini.

Following two years as Professor in Clarinet at the Hochschule für Musik in Karlsruhe, Germany, from 2000 until 2005 Peter Handsworth became Senior Lecturer in Woodwind and subsequently Head of the School of Music at Monash University in Melbourne. Peter Handsworth was the inaugural conductor of the highly acclaimed Adelaide Wind Orchestra (2012-2015) and the resident conductor of the Adelaide Youth Sinfonia (2013-2015). In 2016 he was invited as a guest conductor at Griffith University’s SHEP program.
Peter Handsworth is currently Director of Performance Music and Events at Redlands College in Brisbane and is a regular guest clarinetist of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. He has most recently completed a PhD on the clarinet studies of Alfred Uhl.