Patrons
Christopher Dawson AC APM
His Excellency the Honourable Chris Dawson AC APM was sworn in as the 34th Governor of Western Australia on 15 July 2022.
The Dawson family have been part of the early colonial settlers over five generations of farming and law enforcement. The Governor’s great-great-grandparents arrived in the then Swan River colony in Western Australia in 1830.
Chris Dawson AC APM was educated at Perth Modern School before joining the Western Australia Police Force in 1976, going on to provide 46 years of service in Australian law enforcement.
He served in country and metropolitan positions, criminal investigation, training and senior roles. The Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2002 saw him awarded the Australian Police Medal for distinguished service.
After 10 years as Deputy Commissioner, he left WA for a national role in Canberra between 2014 to 2017 as Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Crime Commission, amalgamating several agencies into the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. He also served as Director of the Australian Institute of Criminology during this period.
He was appointed Commissioner of the Western Australia Police Force in August 2017, serving until July 2022. During the period of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Commissioner Dawson coordinated the State of Emergency and the Vaccine program.
In the Australia Day Honours List for 2023, Governor Dawson was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for eminent service to public administration through law enforcement roles, to reconciliation, and as the 34th Governor appointed in Western Australia.
He is married to Darrilyn Dawson, Education Consultant, with two married children and five grandchildren.
Geoffrey Lancaster AO
In a career spanning nearly 50 years, Geoffrey Lancaster AO has profoundly influenced the development of the historically inspired performance practice movement. He has featured as soloist on modern and early keyboard with such orchestras as the Leipzig Gewandhausorchester; the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic; the Rotterdam Philharmonic; the Gürzenich Orchester Köln; Tafelmusik of Toronto; La Cetra Barockorchester Basel; Ensemble 415 of Geneva, Concerto Copenhagen, and with every major Australian orchestra.
Dr Lancaster studied fortepiano at the Royal Conservatorium in The Hague. He was the first Australian to win a major international keyboard competition, receiving First Prize in the 23rd Festival van Vlaanderen International Mozart Fortepiano Competition, Brugge. An inspiring teacher and public intellectual, he is the author of three scholarly monographs and undertakes regular residencies at significant European conservatoria. In 2011 Dr Lancaster delivered the inaugural Henry Wood Lecture Recital at the Royal Academy of Music in London. Dr Lancaster has held various professorial and emeritus appointments, including at the Royal College of Music in London, the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis, the Royal Northern College of Music, Manchester, and as Professor and Head of Keyboard at a Group of 8 university for more than a decade. He holds a PhD from the University of Sydney which in 2020 awarded him a higher Doctorate in Music (honoris causa).
His many career honours and prizes include Gramophone and ARIA awards for some of his 60 published recordings, the Australia Council’s Australian Artists Creative Fellowship, the HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship, elected Fellowships of the Australian Academy of the Humanities, the Australian College of Educators and the Royal Society of Arts, and Officer of the Order of Australia. Geoffrey is also a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. In 2006, he was Australian of the Year for the Australian Capital Territory and in 2024 was officially recognised as a Western Australia State Cultural Treasure.
Since 2014 he has lived in Perth, Western Australia. He became Patron of the Royal Schools Music Club (RSMC) in 2016 and has generously supported the RSMC in many ways since moving to Perth.