Biography Notes - Tony Fenelon

 It was inevitable from an early age that music would play a significantly major role in Tony Fenelon's life. As a child, he showed astounding talent as a pianist.

At the end of his secondary schooling, Tony faced an enviable dilemma. With a talent for music and a passion for electronics, he had to finally decide between the two. So he enrolled in a Science degree at Melbourne University and, not surprisingly, found it almost impossible to keep music in the background!

Much to the consternation of the Science Faculty, he studied part time at the Conservatorium of Music, in what little spare time was available, under famed teacher Mr. Roy Shepherd.

 His early successes included winning the Victorian Final of the A.B.C. Concerto and Vocal Competitions, and the Open and Bach sections at the National Eisteddfod in Canberra. In the same year, he obtained the highest marks ever awarded for his Licentiate Diploma in Performing Piano at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music.

After completing his Bachelor of Science degree at Melbourne University, he commenced full time work as a medical electronics engineer at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, a career that culminated in his appointment as head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in October 1991. During his employment, his achievements included jointly designing Australia’s first implantable cardiac pacemaker, the design and development of equipment for cardiac arrhythmia mapping, the measurement of neurological visual evoked responses, and the publication of many technical papers worldwide.

Tony Fenelon is also no stranger to the Australian Pops and Australian Philharmonic Orchestras concert audiences, having appeared with the orchestra over many years since its inception. As a solo pianist, Tony has an unusually wide taste in musical repertoire, having performed works with the orchestra ranging from Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff to light classics and pops.

Tony has been regularly featured in the New Year’s Eve and Best of British concert seasons at the Melbourne Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House, Adelaide Festival Theatre and Geelong Art Centres.

Tony's insatiable interest in lighter music and a love of the majestic sound of the theatre pipe organ led to his "other" career, leading to his appointment in 1965 as the resident organist at Melbourne's then prestigious Regent Theatre. He held this post until the organ was removed, prior to the closure of the theatre in the early seventies. It seemed that the Regent was doomed and, in spite of many proposals for the development of the site, the theatre lay dark and neglected until its magnificent restoration and the gala reopening on Saturday August 17th, 1996.

With increasing overseas and local requests for Tony’s performances, he reached the milestone decision in June 1998 to relinquish his biomedical career in favour of a full time involvement with music. Now an internationally acclaimed artist, Tony has completed over twenty major concert tours overseas, performing on piano and pipe organ. Since 1995, Tony’s association with the Roland group of companies has seen him performing concerts throughout Australia, the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan on Roland’s extensive range of contemporary keyboard instruments. He has been invited 3 times to represent Australia for an International Music Spectacular at the Karen and Richard Carpenter Auditorium at Anaheim, USA.

In 1999, Tony returned to his old stamping ground to be featured in the Inaugural Concert of the Regent Theatre’s new Wurlitzer Pipe Organ. This concert was an overwhelming success, drawing an unprecedented record attendance since the civic reopening of the Regent. In February 2002, by popular demand, Tony was invited back to do a repeat concert with American organist Jonas Nordwall, and in February 2003, Tony was again featured in his own solo concert at the Regent Theatre.

Tony has to his credit 22 recordings and 4 Gold records.

In his concerts, Tony strives to provide a tasteful balance between popular tunes and light classics and includes music from the films, stage shows, jazz, and great standards. As the piano has always been his first love, his extensive repertoire of piano classics now forms an increasingly large proportion of his concerts, a feature widely appreciated by his audiences and captured in his recently recorded CD "Collections".

Since 1986, Tony and his wife Noella have been able to enjoy the more exotic fruits of music as Tony entertains guests on board luxury cruise ships at some of the world’s most exciting locations. Their travels have taken them from Alaska to French Polynesia, Norway, the British Isles, Bali and the South Pacific, Italy, Spain and Africa, with Tony as a featured artist on piano and orchestral keyboards.

Tony was awarded the distinction of "Organist of the Year 2002" by the American Theatre Organ Society, and in 2003 was awarded the distinction of the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for his service to music. (Click for details)

A man with an insatiable appetite for music, Tony's dedication and energy are the drive behind his constant quest for new ideas and musical horizons.

The following information was printed in "Liner notes" for the "Awesome Wonder" CD - a joint effort of Rys Merion (Welsh tenor) & Tony (on the Roland Atelier):

From childhood on, Anthony (Tony) Fenelon displayed remarkable talent as a pianist.  At the end of secondary schooling he had to decide between music and electronics, so he enrolled in a Science degree at Melbourne University, and much to the consternation of the Faculty, also studied part time at the Conservatorium of Music. Early successes including winning Victorian Final of A.B.C. Concerto and Vocal Competitions, and the Open and Bach sections at the National Eisteddfod in Canberra. In the same year, he obtained the highest marks ever awarded for a Licentiate Diploma in Performing Piano at the Conservatorium. After completing his Bachelor of Science degree he commenced full time work as a medical electronics engineer at Royal Melbourne Hospital, culminating in appointment as head of the Department of Biomedical Engineering in 1991.  Achievements include jointly designing Australia's first implantable cardiac pacemaker; development of equipment for cardiac arrhythmia mapping; measurement of neurological visual evoked responses, and publication of many technical papers worldwide.

Tony displays his wide taste in music genres in concerts, with a fine balance between popular tunes and light classics including music from movies, stage shows, jazz and great standards. The piano has always been Tony's first love, his extensive repertoire of piano classics forming an increasingly large part of his concerts, which include many with the Australian Philharmonic and Australian Pops Orchestras at such venues as Melbourne Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House and Adelaide Festival Theater.

His love of the majestic sound of the theatre pipe organ led to his "other" career, leading to his appointment in 1965 as resident organist at Melbourne's prestigious Regent Theatre. He held this post until its closure in the early seventies, laying neglected until its magnificent restoration and gala reopening in 1996. In 1999 Tony returned to be featured in the highly successful Inaugural Concert of the Regent's new Wurlitzer Pipe Organ.

With increasing international demand, Tony made a milestone decision in 1998 to relinquish his biomedical career in favour of full time music involvement. Tony gives countless major concert tours overseas, performing on piano and pipe organ. Since 1995, his long association with the Roland Corporation saw him performing concerts throughout Australia, USA, Japan, UK, Canada, Hong Kong and Taiwan on Roland's extensive range of contemporary keyboard instruments. He represented Australia three times in International Music Spectaculars at the Karen & Richard Carpenter Auditorium at Long Beach, USA.

Tony now has 24 recordings to his credit and 4 Gold records for his LP 'Academy Award Winners' recorded fopr Crest by Marcus Herman, producer of 'Awesome Wonder.' Years prior, Marcus recorded a teenaged Tony Fenelon accompanying the popular baritone Bill McCormack.

Since 1986, Tony and his wife Noella have enjoyed the more exotic and well deserved fruits of music as Tony entertains guests onboard luxury cruise ships at some of the world's most exciting locations from Alaska to French Polynesia, Norway, the British Isles, Bali, and the South Pacific, Italy, Spain and Africa, as a featured artist on piano and orchestral keyboards.

He was awarded the distinction of "Organist of the Year 2002" by the American Theater Organ Society, and in 2003 was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Queens Birthday Honours for his services to music.