Peter Thornton Memorial Award

Peter Thornton was one of South Australia’s leading accordion and concertina players in the genre of Traditional Folk Music and Australian Bush Music. Peter’s passion for the Fleurieu Folk Festival and the South Coast Folk Club as Co-Founder and Manager of both were unsurpassed. Pete lived, breathed and spent every minute playing and encouraging his beloved music.

In 2016 Pete was inducted into the Adelaide Music Collective South Australian Music Hall of Fame for his involvement in Folk Music. Although very humbled by this award he accepted it with pride and passion.

Peter's encouragement of young people to play Traditional music has been reiterated over and over again by local young musicians and singer-songwriters who continually talk of the inspirational conversations they had with him.

Pete’s request to his family was to sell his very precious antique Concertina and to use the money to continue to encourage young musicians to play melodies in the Traditional style. The Peter Thornton Memorial Award is presented every year to a young person 25 years of age and under who plays melodies in the Traditional style on a melody instrument and shows promise as an up and coming young musician

The recipient will be chosen each year by Peter’s family - Annie, Melissa, Corey, Daryn and grandsons Max and Marlee. The recipient will be awarded a monetary prize of $500, a keepsake trophy of The Peter Thornton Memorial Award and their name inscribed on a larger perpetual trophy.

2026 Winner -Shivani Preston

Fleurieu Folk Festival is proud to announce thatShivani Preston is the winner of this year’s Peter Thornton Memorial Award for Folk Music & Dance Excellence.

Shivani plays the music for Preston’s Historic Punch & Judy Shows, is a dancer with the Hot for Joe Border Morris side and sings and plays traditional music and songs including Sea Shanties!

Peter Thornton had known Shivani since she was a young girl and would be proud to know that the Thornton family have chosen her for his award knowing that she has carried on many folk traditions.

Shivani will be presented the award on Sunday at 4.10 pm in the Festival Hall by Max Hobbs, Peter’s grandson from Melbourne who, like Shivani plays keyboards and has just been awarded his Bachelor of Music.

The first award winner (2017) was one of Pete's favorites: Lucy Kammermann

Pete's Tunes

Peter Thornton was a generous and fun musician, his enjoyment of music plain, clear and decidedly infectious. He shared his tunes far and wide, with a kind word (or ten) to the up-and-coming, always encouraging, always with charm, a full heart and a smile.

But not everyone knows about Peter’s own compositions. Six great tunes in all – the lovely Annie’s Waltz, The New Old Time Waltz and Highland Dreams, the lively Crossroads and Peekaboo Polkas and the lonesome, lyrical air The Aftermath.

Sheet music and audio samples of Pete's tunes are in this folder, so you are welcome to join in to learn and play, enjoy and celebrate Pete’s tunes.

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