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Feature of NoteStaging Percy Grainger Begins with Percy and Rose
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The 2026–27 series of members’ meetings, Staging Percy Grainger: Reimagining Life and Legacy, begins on Thursday, October 22, 2026 at 5:00 pm EST via Zoom with Percy and Rose, with playwright Rob George.
Rob George, creator of Percy and Rose (1982), opens the series of virtual programs with a searching exploration of Grainger’s emotional world and personal relationships. Inspired by archival sources, George traces how private longing and human connection can be shaped into compelling fiction, revealing how the stage can capture both the vulnerability and intensity that defined Grainger’s inner life.
The entire series is moderated by Percy Grainger Society member Sarah Kirby, a research fellow at the Grainger Museum, University of Melbourne. Her second monograph, Inventing Percy Grainger: The Construction of Biography on Page, Stage and Screen, was published by Boydell & Brewer in 2026. |
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About Rob George
Rob George graduated from Adelaide University with a BA (Hons) Psych and a DipEd, and after a brief time teaching and in education research, departed regular employment and sought his fortune in film, TV and theatre. Rob was the co-originating writer, with Peter Goldsworthy, of the feature film Passion, based on his stage play Percy and Rose, and which starred Richard Roxburgh and Barbara Hershey. |
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At the Home and StudioConstruction Update
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Pending final inspections, the exterior renovation project at the Percy Grainger Home and Studio is complete! Supported by the 2025 Capital Projects grant of $88,000 with the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), construction progressed steadily from June into early August.
Construction work included:
- Gutter and eave restoration
- New, larger copper downspouts and outlets at the front porch
- Replacement of sections of cedar shingle siding
- Restoration of front and rear porches
- Repointing of stone foundation
The completed restoration work was essential to protect the building envelope. Our future goals can now shift to exterior painting and staining of woodwork. and cedar shingle siding. Additionally, we are planning 2nd floor interior renovation starting with Percy’s bedroom. Many thanks to those in our community who continue to help support these vital projects!
This project is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. |
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Member HappeningsNext Restoration: Percy's Bedroom
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The recent exterior renovation at the Percy Grainger Home & Studio (PGH&S) was an important step toward the first section of our interior projects: Percy’s bedroom!
As you can see in the photograph below, the bedroom ceiling has suffered water damage from leaking roof flashing around the dormer windows. Now that the roof repairs have been completed, we can move forward with restoring a space that connects us so closely to four decades of Percy's life and work. |
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The bedroom restoration will include:
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Repairing cracks in the walls
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Sanding, priming, and painting all four walls and the ceiling
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Removing the existing crown molding and replacing it with historically appropriate molding to match the room’s original character
- Electrical upgrades
We are especially excited to announce that Percy’s bedroom restoration will be the focus of our GivingTuesday fundraising campaign this fall. The photos below of Percy's bedroom, taken in 1928, will guide us in replicating the condition of the room as it was when Percy occupied it almost 100 years ago!
If you would like to be part of this effort to restore Percy's bedroom and preserve its contents, please mark your calendars for December 1, 2026 —GivingTuesday. We hope you will consider making a gift to support the restoration project!
Every dollar will help bring us closer to restoring a significant portion of Percy's living history! |
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Save the DateSeptember 24, 2026:
Music Research Forum
with Paul Jackson at the
Grainger Museum
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In this talk, Paul Jackson will provide a framework for better understanding the core ideas expounded in Grainger’s lecture series “A General Study of the Manifold Nature of Music,” delivered at New York University between 1932 and 1933, and “Music: A Commonsense View of all Types”, delivered for the Australian Broadcasting Commission between 1934 and 1935, placing them within the context of the then-emerging field of ethnomusicology and of parallel attempts of formalised music education that sought to make the world’s music available to the wider public. A key method of illustrating Grainger’s central ideas is the reconstruction of the musical content of selected lectures—drawn from a range of archival sources—which naturally serves to illustrate his central beliefs more vividly and tellingly than by a consideration of his written words alone. Please note: this is an in-person presentation at the Grainger Museum in Melbourne, Australia. |
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October 4, 2026:Sunday Tour with Jordan Waddell
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In many ways, Grainger was either at the forefront of innovations in the percussive arts or vastly ahead of his time. Led by Jordan Waddell, this tour will show artifacts related to both Percy’s music and the Graingers as performers, and how it all relates to being a percussionist in the modern day.
The event is part of the ongoing series, Sunday Tours of the Percy Grainger Home & Studio. It is free and open to the public. Registration is encouraged. Please note: this is an in-person presentation at the Percy Grainger Home & Studio in White Plains, New York. If you are unable to attend in person, this presentation will be broadcast on Facebook Live. |
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Event KeyThe Percy Grainger Society is pleased to offer both live and virtual events. You can easily determine if the events listed in this newsletter are live or virtual by the color of the registration button: green for live events blue for virtual events
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The Percy Grainger Society
7 Cromwell Place | White Plains, New York 10601
Join/Renew
Donate
Volunteer
Our mission is to promote the work and legacy of Percy Grainger with a membership community that preserves his historic house, encourages appreciation performance of his music, and promotes a deeper understanding of the cultural, social, and economic context of his life and work.
info@percygrainger.org
(914) 281-1610
www.percygrainger.org
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