Grant Foster

Grant Foster (born 1945) is an Australian composer, pianist, teacher and novelist. He was the co-founder and inaugural artistic director of the Southern Highlands International Piano Competition. His musical is lyrical and well crafted, and he is well-known in Russia, despite being relatively unknown in his own country. Grant Foster was born in Sydney in 1945 and studied at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music under Alexander Sverjensky, then in Paris under Marcel Ciampi, to whom he was recommended by Yehudi Menuhin after hearing him play, and under Denise Rivière. The musical Peter Pan, directed by Sir Robert Helpmann, with music by Foster, ran in London for seven consecutive Christmas seasons. He was its artistic director until 2013, when he was succeeded by Gerard Willems. He is better known in Russia than in Australia. His works have been recorded by the Novaya Rossiya State Symphony Orchestra, by the Serbian-born pianist Mira Yevtich, among others. - Notes