INTERNATIONALLY renowned percussionist Claire Edwardes OAM will perform marimba in the final Coffs Harbour Music Society concert of 2024.

Claire’s work as artistic director, chamber musician and soloist has made her a dynamic changemaker in the Australian classical music scene.

Her solo career was launched in 1999 when she won the ABC Young Performers Award.

Performances at major festivals overseas and in Australia rapidly followed.

Claire frequently appears at the Sydney Opera House with Sydney Symphony Orchestra and has premiered new work in Australia and Europe to great acclaim.

She has also made it to Australian television screens, appearing as an occasional host of Play School and as a panellist on Spicks and Specks.

A strong advocate for gender equity in classical music, she is currently on staff as a percussion teacher at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and is the mother of two teenage girls in Sydney’s Inner West.

Claire’s concert in Coffs Harbour celebrates work by wonderful Australian composers including Ross Edwards, Martin Wesley Smith, Maria Grenfell and Elena Kats-Chernin.

A free pre-concert talk by Coffs Harbour Music Society Vice President Robert Smallwood begins at 6:30pm.

“Everyone is welcome to attend,” said Leigh Summers from the Music Society.

“As a thank you to our supporters, complimentary refreshments will be served prior to this very special end of year concert!”

Claire will perform at St John Paul College Theatre on Friday 29 November at 7:30pm.