Elder Conservatorium of Music


The Elder Conservatorium of Music, also known as "The Con", is Australia's senior academy of music and is located in the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It is named in honour of its benefactor, Sir Thomas Elder. Dating in its earliest form from 1883, it has a distinguished history in the intensive professional training for musical performance, musical composition, research in all fields of music, and comprehensive music education. The Elder Conservatorium of Music and its forerunners have been integral parts of the University of Adelaide since the early 1880s.

History

The Elder Conservatorium of Music was formally constituted in 1898 as the result of a major philanthropic bequest from the will of the Scottish-Australian pastoralist, Sir Thomas Elder, whose statue stands outside Elder Hall. The history, however, goes back further than 1898. An earlier philanthropic donation from Sir Thomas Elder had helped to establish the Elder Professorship of Music in 1883, with the first incumbent taking up the post in 1884. At the same time, Sir Thomas Elder had established endowment funds in parallel for the Royal College of Music in London and the Music Board of the University of Adelaide to support the Elder Overseas Scholarship. 1883 was also the year in which Berlin-trained pianist Immanuel Gotthold Reimann founded his privately owned and run Adelaide College of Music, of which Cecil Sharp became co-director in 1889. For the first few years the new school of music at the University of Adelaide and the Adelaide College of Music complemented each other. In 1898 the two schools were merged, operating in the college's Wakefield Street premises until 1900, when the North Terrace building was completed. Hermann Heinicke founded the first Conservatorium Orchestra.
The Elder Conservatorium of Music is a product of three mergers: one in the late nineteenth century with the Adelaide College of Music; one in the late twentieth century, with the School of Performing Arts of the then South Australian College of Advanced Education; and one at the beginning of the twenty-first century, with the School of Music of the Adelaide Institute of TAFE. Formerly a faculty of the university it is now constituted as a professional School within the Faculty of Arts. Since 2002 it has been an associate member of the Association of European Conservatoires, and is also a partner school of the Helpmann Academy, an umbrella body created by the State Government of South Australia to promote collaboration between various schools of visual and performing arts.
There have so far been only seven incumbents of the Elder Professorship of Music, all of whom have also served as director and/or dean of the Elder Conservatorium of Music and have provided the artistic and academic leadership for the institution: professor Joshua Ives ; professor J. Matthew Ennis ; Professor Dr. E. Harold Davies ; pianist and arts administrator, Professor John Bishop, OBE ; the tenor, Professor David Galliver, AM ; German conductor, Professor Heribert Esser ; and composer, Professor Dr. Charles Bodman Rae. Since the late 1970s the administrative position of director of the Conservatorium has from time to time been occupied by a staff member other than the Elder Professor of Music. In this category can be included: the clarinettist, David Shepherd; the pianist, Clemens Leske AM; the horn player, Patrick Brislan; the pianist, David Lockett AM; and the choral conductor, Carl Crossin OAM. Since 2014 the director has been the noted composer, Professor Graeme Koehne, AO.
In 1886, Professor Ives established the first Australian public music examinations system, modelled on that of the Guildhall School of Music in London. This directly led to the establishment of the Australian Music Examinations Board. In 1898, through the Elder Conservatorium, the University of Adelaide was the first in Australia to establish regulations for the degree of Doctor of Music, and in 1902, Edward Harold Davies was awarded the first Australian doctorate of music. In 1918 the university became the first in Australia to award a doctorate in music to a woman, Ruby Davy. In addition to Davies and Davy, recipients of the DMus award have included: Tristram Cary, OAM; Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, CBE; Graeme Koehne; Charles Bodman Rae; David Lockett, AM; and Ross Edwards, AM.
In addition to the Elder Professors, many distinguished composers and performing musicians have been members of staff, including: Sir Peter Maxwell Davies ; Prof. David Cubbin ; Clive Carey ; Jiří Tancibudek ; Gabor Reeves ; Beryl Kimber ; Clemens Leske ; James Whitehead ; Lance Dossor ; Richard Meale ; Tristram Cary ; Janis Laurs, cello; Keith Crellin, OAM ; Graeme Koehne ; Stephen Whittington Stefan Ammer ; Lucinda Collins. From 1978 to 1994 Prof. Andrew McCredie held a personal chair in musicology. The Australian String Quartet was established in 1985 and since 1991 has been quartet-in-residence at the Elder Conservatorium.
The Bishop years are generally considered to have been some of the most exciting and progressive in the history of the Elder Conservatorium, with initiatives such as the appointment of the University of Adelaide Wind Quintet, and the establishment of the Adelaide Festival of Arts. The years since the appointment of Bodman Rae in 2001 also witnessed transformational changes that re-established the position of the Elder Conservatorium as one of Australia's leading music academies. In 2005 the Elder Conservatorium received a Classical Music Award for "outstanding contribution by an organisation", in recognition of its music program for the 2004 Adelaide Festival of Arts. In 2011, 2013, 2015, and for the last two years the Elder Conservatorium hosted the National Music Camp, which is Australia's largest annual musical event.
Research at the Elder Conservatorium is consistently ranked among the world's best. In keeping with the Conservatorium's pursuit of excellence, its researchers excel in both traditional and non-traditional formats. The former has seen a range of prestigious publications dealing with topics as diverse as music and politics, gender studies, Indigenous music and music-making, and electro-acoustics. Non-traditional research activities range across performance studies, composition, music curatorial studies, music industry entrepreneurship, and digital arts and related multi-media. The Conservatorium is co-host to two cutting-edge research aggregations sanctioned by artists of global renown; the Sia Furler Institute for Contemporary Music and Media, and the JM Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice. The Elder Conservatorium boasts a large and vibrant postgraduate community at the Masters and PhD levels. The Conservatorium boasts an enviable reputation for producing research that offers new perspectives on real world challenges facing not only music and musicians, but society and culture globally.

Academic programs

The Elder Conservatorium of Music has been awarding degrees and diplomas in music – equally, to both men and women – since the end of the nineteenth century. It is sometimes erroneously said that the early degree programs were modelled on those at the University of Cambridge. It is true that Professor Ives had graduated with the MusB degree from Cambridge, and the academic robes are based on those from Cambridge, but the degree programs of the University of Adelaide were – and to a large extent still are – based on the Scottish rather than English model. This reflects the fact that most of the founding fathers of the university were Scots. Furthermore, the Cambridge MusB degree was taken as a second, postgraduate degree, whereas the Elder Conservatorium's BMus degree is a first degree award. The differences are most striking when viewed from the perspective of educational opportunities for women. Whereas women were not able to graduate from the University of Cambridge until shortly after the Second World War, they were graduating from the Elder Conservatorium of Music fifty years earlier.
The Elder Conservatorium offers two main Undergraduate programs, with the following specialisations. Postgraduate awards include Graduate Diplomas in Performance and Pedagogy, and Music Performance; Master's Degrees in Performance Studies and Performance and Pedagogy and Graduate Certificate in Music Teaching.

Undergraduate Programs

Diploma in Music

Graduate Diploma in Music and Master of Music

The degree of Master of Philosophy is offered for the specializations of Composition, Musicology, Music Education, Music Performance, Music Performance, Pedagogy and Sonic Arts. Specializations for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy include Composition, Musicology, Music Education, Music Performance and Sonic Arts.

Associate in Music, University of Adelaide

Associate in Music, University of Adelaide was a degree conferred by the university. It was initially introduced in 1900 as a diploma course, predating the formation of the Australian Music Examinations Board in 1918. It was phased out in 1972. Notable graduates included: Maude Mary Puddy, ;
Clytie Hine, 1908; and
Arnold Matters, 1926.

Facilities

Elder Hall

Elder Hall is one of Australia's finest and most historic concert halls. Building commenced in 1898 and it was officially opened in 1900 by the then Governor of South Australia, Lord Tennyson. Its spacious interior features a magnificent hammer-beam roof modelled on the Middle Temple in London, and a three-manual organ built by Casavant Frères of Canada. Elder Hall is the primary focus of the Conservatorium's successful annual concert series. Conservatorium concerts are also given in several other locations, including the Adelaide Town Hall, and St Peter's Cathedral in North Adelaide.

Electronic Music Unit

The Electronic Music Unit is the hub of music technology, sound production, sonic arts and electronic music at the Elder Conservatorium.
Formerly known as the Elder Electronic Music Studio and the Performing Arts Technology Unit it was founded in 1962 as a result of the engagement of Dr. Henk Badings as composer in residence at the Elder Conservatorium. Its facilities include recording studios, computer suites, and an historic collection of analogue synthesizers dating back to the 1960s. It is also used as a public venue for concerts of contemporary and experimental music. It was the first such studio in Australia. Many composers have been associated with it, including Henk Badings, Peter Tahourdin, Tristram Cary, Martin Wesley-Smith and Stephen Whittington. EMU offers programs providing knowledge and skills in music technology, such as sound engineering, sound designing for games or films, electronic composition or performance, and software for plug-in development or sound art.

Performing ensembles

Classical Choirs

The Choral Program at the Elder Conservatorium of Music is unique in Australian tertiary music education in both structure and scale. The Program is based on the fundamental principle that ensemble work is an essential part of a musician's education at any level. Carl Crossin OAM has been head of Choral Music at the Conservatorium since 2002 when the current choral program was initiated. He is also artistic director and conductor of Adelaide Chamber Singers Link to external website and was awarded an OAM for his services to music in the 2007 Australia Day Honours List.

Elder Conservatorium Chorale

The Elder Conservatorium Chorale is an mixed voice choir that draws its membership from the Elder Conservatorium of Music, the University of Adelaide at large, other universities, and from the wider community. As well as putting on their own concerts as part of the Elder Conservatorium's Concert Series, the choir regular performs with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, most recently singing in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of secrets, with live choir and orchestra at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre.

Bella Voce

Bella Voce is a female voice choir, formed principally to build ensemble and musical skills while exploring SSA and SSAA repertoire.

Orchestras

Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra

The Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra is central to the work of the Elder Conservatorium and the training of its young musicians. The orchestra, conducted by Luke Dollman, consists mainly of full-time students from the Conservatorium's music programs and also includes some students from other faculties within the university. The orchestra aims to provide students with the ensemble expertise necessary for a successful performing career. It is expected that a significant number of today's players will follow in the footsteps of illustrious past members who have gone on to successful solo, chamber music and orchestral careers in Australia and abroad.

Elder Conservatorium Wind Orchestra

The Elder Conservatorium Wind Orchestra is conducted by Luke Dollman and is widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent ensemble of its kind in Australia. It has been winner of the Open A Grade Concert Band division of the National Band Championships thirteen times and has received numerous invitations to perform in concerts and festivals locally, interstate and abroad.

Elder Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra

Founded in 1973 by the late Jiri Tancibudek, the Elder Conservatorium Chamber Orchestra draws on advanced students from the conservatorium. Currently directed by Elizabeth Layton, the chamber orchestra provides students with the opportunity to hone their ensemble skills in an orchestral setting and to work on the vast repertoire available to such an ensemble. In addition, by working with the chamber orchestra, students have the opportunity to study many of the stylistic techniques which they will encounter in their professional lives.

Jazz Ensembles

Adelaide Connection

The Adelaide Connection is the Elder Conservatorium's premier Jazz Choir and has been one of Australia's most prestigious vocal groups since its inception in the 1980s. Under the direction of Anita Wardell, the group consists of between 15 and 18 students and has a mixture of soprano, alto, tenor and bass voices. The Connection have built a repertoire of harmonically sophisticated vocal music, both a cappella and accompanied. The majority of the vocal arrangements focus on close part harmony and complex jazz rhythms and sight reading is a strong focus for this ensemble. To strengthen the students' knowledge of jazz history, chosen repertoire includes music from early jazz choir arrangers such as Gene Puerling to current arrangers such as Darmon Meader and Kerry Marsh.

Elder Conservatorium Big Band

Under the long time direction of Hal Hall and now Dusty Cox, the Big Band has showcased a broad range of material from the traditions of Basie and Ellington to contemporary music. The ensemble has worked with many ‘jazz giants’, including James Morrison, Lee Konitz, Errol Buddle, Don Burrows and many others. It has appeared at the Manley Jazz Festival three times; in 1995 it featured at the Monsalvat Jazz Festival, and in 2002 performed at the prestigious Wangaratta Jazz Festival. The Big Band has also toured extensively throughout South Australia and in 1994 it produced a CD, Live at the Walker's Arms and completed a studio recording in 2008.

Elder Conservatorium Latin Jazz Ensemble

The Latin Jazz Ensemble, directed by Mark Ferguson, was formed in 2009 as the Latin Ensemble to replace three previous student ensembles; Big Band 3, the Jazz Percussion Ensemble and the Keyboard Ensemble. It is a training ensemble; a stepping stone into the prestigious Big Band 1 and it has become a student favourite over the years. In 2012 it was rebadged as the Cuban Ensemble and the repertoire now focuses on music from the Caribbean, Colombia and New Orleans.

Elder Conservatorium Guitar Ensemble

The Elder Conservatorium Guitar Ensemble is directed by Oliver Fartach-Naini constitutes a core component of the Elder Conservatorium's classical guitar program. Most of its members are full-time music students. Weekly rehearsals and regular concerts offer valuable training opportunities that are vital to the further development of the students’ skill-sets and their overall repertoire knowledge.

Institutional links

The Elder Conservatorium is affiliated with music institutions including the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the Australian String Quartet and the State Opera of South Australia.

Adelaide Symphony Orchestra

With a reputation for vitality and versatility, the internationally acclaimed Adelaide Symphony Orchestra is South Australia's largest performing arts organisation, established in 1936. The orchestra, which is based a short walk from the Conservatorium, generously provides opportunities for occasional training experience for selected classical performance and composition students. A recent initiative provides for the joining of forces between the ASO and the Elder Conservatorium to offer an internationally unique conducting program. The program will prepare students aspiring to be professional conductors at the highest level. It is the first time an Australian university and orchestra have collaborated on such a degree program for conductors. Students can study for a Master of Music degree, a Graduate Diploma, or do an Honours year majoring conducting. http://www.aso.com.au/

Australian String Quartet

The Australian String Quartet is Quartet-in-Residence at the University of Adelaide. With a rich history spanning over 30 years, the ASQ has a strong national profile as an Australian chamber music group of excellence, performing at the highest international level.
From its home base at the University of Adelaide, Elder Conservatorium of Music, the ASQ delivers a vibrant annual artistic program encompassing performances, workshops, commissions and education projects across Australia and abroad. Collaborative activities include performances in the Elder Hall lunch hour & evening series concerts, composer forums, chamber music workshops, participation in 1:1 teaching and mentoring opportunities. https://music.adelaide.edu.au/asq/

State Opera of South Australia

State Opera of South Australia is a professional opera company in Adelaide, South Australia, established in 1976. Each year, the State Opera presents at least two major operatic productions at the Adelaide Festival Theatre as well as producing or supporting other smaller productions in the Opera Studio at Netley. Conservatorium graduates in Classical Voice often find employment as professional singers with the State Opera, usually through the Young Artists program, and most of SOSA's current principal singers and many of its chorus are Conservatorium graduates. In addition, the Conservatorium has recently established an ongoing partnership with SOSA that offers student internships and produces a full operatic production each year. This collaboration involves both the Conservatorium's Classical Voice cohort and the symphony orchestra. http://saopera.sa.gov.au/