ARIA Award winner, the Canberra born-and-bred pianist, Sally Whitwell is bringing  a program of Philip Glass’s  solo piano music to town.

The recital will include excerpts from the Helpmann Award nominated performance of Glass’s Solo Piano Etudes in which she shared the stage with Maki Namekawa and Philip Glass at the Perth International Arts Festival.

Whitwell says she is one of the  few musicians in the world who have permission to perform these as yet-unpublished works.

“It was a great joy to meet and work with Philip Glass,” Whitwell says, explaining that on the page, the dot patterns look a little mechanical “but actually they’re something more like an impressionist painting.”

Whitwell was born and raised in Canberra, studying piano with the late Janice Battison, then Ann Thompson and finally at the then Canberra School of Music where she majored in bassoon studies with Richard McIntyre.

Piano studies with Susanne Powell lead to further study in accompaniment at Sydney Conservatorium with David Miller.

In addition to her solo performance work, she has worked  composition and arranging, choral conducting and cabaret and  combinations of all of the above.

“I’m interested in how all the different aspects of my classical training plus school-of-life knowledge intersect…basically, I feel that if it speaks to someone, it’s art.”

Sally Whitwell plays Philip Glass, at All Saints Anglican Church, Ainslie 3pm August 18, Tickets at the door,  $30/25. Proceeds go towards the fund for All Saints Anglican Church’s recent acquisition, a Yamaha grand piano.