Join the Friends of the Parkhouse Award

The Parkhouse Award was founded in 1990 by friends and colleagues of David Parkhouse to perpetuate his memory and the outstanding contribution he made to the performance of chamber music in Britain and abroad.

It is essentially a practical prize for outstanding young ensembles of piano with strings. The winning ensemble is given the opportunity to launch its career in the most positive way possible, with concerts in prestigious halls in London and performance opportunities in the south east of England.

The Friends of The Parkhouse Award are very important within the Award as a whole. Their enthusiastic attendance at concerts and receptions creates a most rewarding atmosphere for our young winners, in addition to their supporting role of providing financial assistance to this unique chamber music competition.

Membership of the Friends of The Parkhouse Award costs only £20. Benefits include:

• Discounts on top-price concert tickets
• Invitations to attend the biennial audition sessions prior to Finals (closed to the general public)
• Priority booking
• Friends’ Newsletters
• The opportunity to meet the artists

David Parkhouse was a man of prodigious energy. As a pianist he used that energy to the full in setting himself, and achieving, the highest of standards. As a teacher, he inspired his students to reach for the same. On their many travels, David and his wife Eileen were ambassadors for British music and musicians, indomitable and much-loved. In 1945, at the age of 14, David had been one of the youngest students to have entered the Royal College of Music having won a major scholarship. He studied with Herbert Fryer and Lance Dossor and, when he was 17, won the RCM’s prestigious Chappell Gold Medal for solo piano. Following National Service in the RAF he returned to the RCM and formed a Trio with Eileen Croxford and Hugh Bean, all founder members of the Music Group of London to which David devoted much of his performing life.

Download an application form to join the Friends of the Parkhouse Award.