Winsome Evans

Who is Winsome Evans?

Winsome Joan Evans OAM BEM is one of Australia's premier early music specialists.

She received a Bachelor of Music degree in composition from the University of Sydney, where her lecturers included Peter Sculthorpe. In addition to her activities as a professional harpsichordist, composer, and arranger, she is perhaps best known for her role as director of the Renaissance Players, one of Australia's best known early music ensembles. She was until recently an Associate Professor of music at the University of Sydney.

Winsome Evans has "re-composed" all of Johann Sebastian Bach's works for solo violin as works for clavicembalo, adding accompaniments as she believes Bach must have had in mind. Her recording of her recomposition of the 6 Sonatas and Partitas, BWV 1001–1006, was released in 2009.

In 1980 she was awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours List and the NSW Jaycees' Award for services to music. In 1986 she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to music.

She was featured, along with her colleague Anne Boyd, in the documentary Facing the Music.

She uses the name Snave Pluckpayres in some contexts.