Dr Penelope Cashman, Adelaide-based pianist and vocal coach, is active as a performer, pedagogue and researcher.
In her role as a vocal accompanist and repetiteur, Penelope has worked for the State Opera of South Australia, Opera Queensland, the “Bel Canto in Tuscany” Opera School, Italy, the Lisa Gasteen National Opera School, the WAAPA International Art Song Academy, Co-Opera, and the Elder Conservatorium of Music. She has been music director and pianist for the Opera Queensland outreach programs “Moving Opera!” and “Vocal Threads”, and for Mopoke Theatre’s productions of Menotti’s The Old Maid and the Thief and Puccini’s Suor Angelica.
Penelope is in demand as a vocal coach, working with both professional and conservatorium-level singers. From 2017 to 2020 she was a regular visiting lecturer at the University of Waikato Conservatorium of Music, New Zealand, specialising in German Lieder and lyric diction. She is currently a Research Associate in the Music Program, School of Arts, at the University of Waikato. Penelope teaches introductory classes in Italian and German lyric diction at the Elder Conservatorium of Music and is a frequent guest lecturer in the voice performance class. In 2021 she was a faculty member of the State Opera of South Australia Opera Academy and in 2022 she was a masterclass presenter for Co-Opera. In her freelance coaching work, Penelope has a particular interest in helping recent voice graduates continue their vocal and musical development, preparing many for further studies interstate or overseas.
Furthering her specialisation in vocal coaching, in 2019 Penelope was awarded her PhD and the Dean’s Commendation from the University of Adelaide for her thesis, “International best practice in the teaching of lyric diction to conservatorium-level singers”. This was based on research undertaken in the US, UK, Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, and is now considered a landmark study in the field. It is available here. Penelope also holds Bachelor degrees from the Conservatorium van Amsterdam and the Australian National University School of Music, and a Masters degree from the Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien (Vienna). In 2020 she also received a Lisa Gasteen National Opera Program grant to further her professional development.
In addition to performing and vocal coaching, Penelope teaches a small studio of private piano students. She has a particular interest in the Taubman approach and in 2020 undertook studies with Dr Therese Milanovic with the support of a Creative Endeavour grant from Arts South Australia. She has continued these studies throughout 2021 and 2022, as both pianist and pedagogue, with the generous support of Arts South Australia through a Professional Development Grant. Penelope has been a masterclass presenter for the Accompanists’ Guild of South Australia, and an examiner and guest presenter for the Australian Music Education Board.