Megan Smithies has spent decades making music – as a professional cellist she still performs today, and as president of the Peninsula Music Society (PMS), she ensures others get the same chance. It’s a role she clearly relishes.
The PMS is one of the peninsula’s most enduring cultural institutions. Founded in 1962 with the aim of fostering appreciation and enjoyment of chamber, vocal, instrumental and orchestral music, the society has been bringing world-class performers to the region for more than 60 years. All of its committee members are volunteers, with Megan taking on the presidency at the end of 2024, after having served on the committee for roughly a decade.
The society runs a subscription concert season each year at the Peninsula Community Theatre, presenting what Megan describes as “international standard artists”.
The remainder of the 2026 season features Marshall McGuire and Genevieve Lacey performing works from their ARIA Award-winning album Bower in August, followed by a return season from beloved trio Ensemble Liaison (piano, clarinet and cello) in November, performing Zemlinsky alongside a new commission by Australian composer Stuart Greenbaum. And in a slight departure from the usual fare, Megan is particularly excited about a special jazz event: singer Sarah Maclaine and her quartet performing classic jazz standards at the intimate Mt Eliza Village Church in October.
None of it comes easy. The PMS receives no council or government funding, and relies on a small amount of support from Bendigo Bank, whatever grants the committee can chase down, and the dedication of its volunteers. “We’re struggling, as all arts organisations are,” she says.
What gives Megan immense satisfaction is the society’s work with young musicians.
What gives Megan immense satisfaction is the society’s work with young musicians. The PMS Student Workshop Program gives local students the chance to learn from – and ultimately perform alongside – musicians of the highest calibre, running in conjunction with one of the season’s subscription concerts each year.
This year, 12 students aged between nine and 16 were selected to work with the Melbourne Chamber Orchestra (MCO), whose artistic director is Sophie Rowell, one of Australia’s leading violinists and former co-concertmaster of the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.
On 26 April, the students gathered at Peninsula Grammar School, which generously donated its rehearsal space, for a two-hour workshop run by Rowell and MCO principal viola, Merewyn Bramble. They worked on the first movement of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons: Spring, but the session went further than technical preparation for a single piece.
“They were given invaluable input on string playing in general,” Megan says. “It was a truly inspiring event for the students to be mentored by internationally acclaimed string players.”
Two weeks later, on 9 May at the Peninsula Community Theatre, the students performed Spring with the full MCO as part of the subscription concert. Before the performance, they joined the whole orchestra for a balance call – a short pre-concert rehearsal in which the players work through key passages to adjust their blend and volume to the specific acoustics of the venue – and the afternoon culminated in a performance that drew a crowd of around 270. The reception was so warm the students were called back for an encore.
It was also the first such workshop PMS had managed to hold since COVID lockdowns. The society’s collaboration with the MCO dates back to 2010, with multi-day workshops and masterclasses running annually until 2019, paused by the pandemic and now, joyfully, resumed.
Together with the workshop program, PMS runs an annual Student Bursary Program, open to primary, secondary and tertiary musicians from across the peninsula playing strings, wind, brass or piano. Winners receive substantial cash prizes and perform in the annual Bursary Winners Concert, being held this year on 19 July. The program is supported by the Tallis Foundation and the Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Society Peninsula (ADFAS).
The bursary’s track record speaks for itself. Past winners include Dr Richard Vaudrey, now Head of Instrumental Music at Peninsula Grammar School; violinist Louise Turnbull, who performed for PMS alongside pianist Elyane Laussade on 22 March before heading back to London to pursue postgraduate studies and a professional career; and cellist Michael Dahlenburg, now Artistic Director of the Australian String Quartet.
While it’s a lot to carry for an all-volunteer organisation running on goodwill and the occasional grant, Megan only has to think of a nine-year-old taking a bow alongside a professional orchestra, and none of it feels like a burden.
“Presenting these concerts, working with the artists, providing opportunities for students – I just really enjoy that.”
Visit the website to find out more about the Peninsula Music Society