A prodigy who skipped school for symphonies: John Painter’s unforgettable story

John Galloway Painter, founder of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and a trailblazing visionary of Australian classical music, has died. He was 92.

Born in Adelaide in 1932, Painter won a scholarship aged 10 to learn cello with renowned pedagogue Harold Parsons. He flourished so rapidly that within 3½ years his father and school headmaster found themselves lying about his school attendance so he could accept a position with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

A restless student, Painter’s ability consistently outstripped formal education. He never completed his studies at Adelaide’s Elder Conservatorium or the NSW State Conservatorium, instead becoming principal cellist of the South Australian Symphony Orchestra aged 18.

A young John Painter with composer Igor Stravinsky. Credit:

In his late 20s he became principal cellist of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, a demanding role requiring international touring and recording for ABC radio. Blessed with a rich and elegant musical sound, Painter also cut a tall, handsome figure on stage. Colleagues recall his humour and incessant smoking – he often brought a pipe to rehearsal, puffing while he played.

During this time, he met Lois Simpson, the SSO’s first female principal cellist and wife of the eminent principal violist Robert Pikler. Painter had married at a young age the piano teacher Beverley Andrews, but in 1962 he left her to marry Simpson. Their famed partnership lasted until Simpson’s death.

The 1960s and 1970s were a heady time for Australian classical music: an era of cultural cringe but also of unsurpassed vision and legacy building, driven by a generation of movers and shakers like Painter. Amid the background of the Vietnam War and the Whitlam government, the bold dream of the Sydney Opera House had sprung from plan to reality, and a new wave of exceptional young Australian musicians was emerging, nurtured by excellent pedagogy. Audiences, treated to tours from prominent foreign groups like the Academy of St Martin in the Fields, were enthusiastic for a truly Australian chamber music scene.

Painter was both a fine musician and a very effective administrator.

Painter answered the call. In 1966 he and Pikler, whose musical affinity had somehow survived their personal circumstances, became founding members of the Sydney String Quartet.

In 1974, intent on enabling young musicians to drive Australian music to even greater heights, Painter founded the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He led its 1975 Opera House debut and continued at the helm for a decade, laying its enduring foundation as an ensemble of particular brilliance.

Increasingly, Painter’s visionary abilities were channelled into administrative leadership. He took on the mantle reluctantly at first, but once appointed became devastatingly effective. Painter was known to overcome bureaucratic obstacles with cheerful persistence, humour, and a passion for music unsullied by ideology or agenda.

‘We will fight for music and for education … with treble clefs, violins and drums blazing.’

He proved to be that rare combination of artist and administrator, moving seamlessly from directing rehearsals to drafting government submissions.

By the end of his long life, there was hardly a major Australian classical music institution that remained untouched by his legacy. He served as director of the Sydney Conservatorium, the Canberra School of Music, and the Australian Institute of Music.

He drove the establishment of the Australian National Academy of Music, judged the Sydney International Piano Competition, chaired the Australian Cello Awards, and held senior roles with NIDA, the Australian Council for the Arts, Musica Viva, and the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Young musicians instinctively straightened up when he entered a room, sensing in his authority the authenticity of a fellow performer.

What little spare time Painter had was devoted to family life. Boating on the Hawkesbury River and Sugarloaf Bay with Simpson and her sons gave happy respite. Their Castlecrag home was relatively modest, but was decorated with Simpson’s impeccable taste and rich in musical fellowship. A steady stream of students and professionals poured in and out for lessons and rehearsals. Touring international luminaries like Daniel Barenboim, Jacqueline du Pré, and Mstislav Rostropovich visited for tea. Even Painter’s beloved dogs were named after composers: Bartok the basset hound, and a red setter named for Johann Sebastian Bach.

In 1981, Painter was made a Member of the Order of Australia. In 2002 he received the Sir Bernard Heinze Memorial Award for outstanding contribution to music in Australia.

On the day of his death, his ACO successor Richard Tognetti wrote him an open letter of thanks.

“I promise: we will not let your values be destroyed,” he wrote. “We will fight for music and for education … with treble clefs, violins and drums blazing.”

Painter is survived by his companion Renée Goosens, his sons Ashley and Jamie, stepsons Gregory and Martin Pikler, and his grandchildren.

A tribute concert will be held at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music on October 12.

An ACO gala concert dedicated to John Painter’s memory will be held on November 21 at the Sydney Opera House, commemorating the 50th anniversary of their 1975 debut.

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