Composer-pianist WENDY HISOCKS was born in Wollongong near Sydney andbegan playing the piano at an early age. In her teens she started composing, and went on to study composition with Peter Sculthorpe at University of sydney. Her career started with a two-year residence as composer and composition teacher at a major Perth school that resulted in the establishment of composition as an accredited subject in the West Australian school syllabus. Since moving to London in 1988 she has received commissions, premieres and broadcasts from distinguished soloists, ensembles and choirs from around the world. Wendy's recent appearance in an ABC TV documentary on the Australian painter Lloyd Rees includes a performance of her choral work 'Grace' and has been broadcast in 2008 and 2009. As pianist she has appeared internationally at venues ranging from London's Purcell Room to festivals on various continents such as the Kusatsu International Summer Academy and Festival in Japan and Australia's Port Fairy She performs piano duos and duets, chamber music and accompanies singers in a large range of repertoire including her own compositions. She has recorded piano duet and duo music by Chabrier with Roy Howat for the French label Stil and her piano duet arrangement of Saint-Saens' Danse Macabre was published by Edition Peters in 2007. Wendy is also an authority on the music of Arthur Benjamin, a topic on which she has submitted a doctorate at the Australian National University and on whom she will be writing the first biography. Recent premieres include Scott McCarey's performance of 'Trees and Lightning' and 'Lanterns on Lake Illawarra' commissioned for solo piano which are a part of a larger collection called Scenes from an Australian Childhood. Plans for 2010 will feature Wendy as composer-in-residence at the Australian Festival of Chamber Music in Townsville, Australia, and as lecturer and performer in events celebrating the Arthur Benjamin anniversary for a variety of organisations including the ABC.