ANU School of Music
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The ANU School of Music is part of the Australian National University.
It was established with Sir Ernest Lewellyn CBE as its Director, and was called the Canberra School of Music. It is now a research and teaching school within the ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences. It is also the location of the Llewellyn Hall, Canberra's main concert hall for fine orchestral music.
The original plans for the School of Music were prepared in the 1960s when the Commonwealth of Australia's Department of the Interior recognized the need to establish centres for art and music study in the national capital, with the vision of providing high-level performance and practice. Sir Richard Kingsland AO, Secretary of the Department from 1963 to 1970, provided valuable support for Ernest Lewellyn's vision. The Canberra School of Music was established in 1965.
Responsibility for the Canberra School of Music passed from the Department of the Interior to the Minister for Education and Science, Sir John Gorton AC CH. Control was transferred in 1974, and Sir Richard was the first Chairman of the Canberra School of Music. The Kingsland Room in the School of Music is named in his honour.
The current School of Music building was opened in 1976. In 1987, the Canberra School of Music combined with the Canberra School of Art to create the Canberra Institute for the Arts. In 1992, it became part of the Australian National University.
In 2004, the National Institute of the Arts was dissolved, with the Schools of Music and Art becoming part of the ANU Faculty of the Arts.
Sir Ernest had a grand vision and saw the School of Music as Australia’s ‘Juilliard’, setting it up with a hand-picked staff and a focus on the training of soloists, chamber and orchestral musicians. As part of his grand plan he also envisaged the development of a National Symphony Orchestra based in Canberra. The National Symphony Orchestra has never been established, although Canberra has its own professional part-time orchestra, the Canberra Symphony Orchestra. The Canberra Symphony Orchestra is based in the Llewellyn Hall.
The School of Music was first located in the Canberra suburb of Manuka and in 1976 moved to its current site on Childers Street in Canberra City, becoming the first purpose-built music school facility in Australia.
In 2001, the Peter Karmel Building was opened to house the Jazz and Percussion Areas, and the Centre for New Media Arts. An extension to the Music Library was completed at the same time. In 2004, the ANU Keyboard Institute was established at the School of Music, providing an Australian centre for research into historical keyboard performance and Australian composition for piano, and hosting Australia's first graduate programs in fortepiano.
Distinguished staff, visitors and alumni of the ANU School of Music and its antecedent institutions include Prof Sir Ernest Lewellyn CBE (violin/ conductor), Prof Don Banks AM (composer), Dr Geoffrey Lancaster AM (fortepianist/ conductor), Dr Larry Sitsky AM (pianist/ composer), Ms Anna McDonald (baroque violin), Ms Jane Gower (bassoon), Ms Lois Simpson AO ('cello), Prof Robert Nairn (double bass), Ms Alice Giles (harp), Dr Donald Hollier (composer), Prof John Painter AM ('cello/ former Director), Mr Nigel Westlake (composer), Miss Winifred Burston (piano), Mr Rick McIntyre OAM (bassoon), Mr Richard Meale AM (composer) and Prof Nicolette Fraillon (conductor/ former Director).
The principal areas of research at the School include Classical performance, Piano and Fortepiano performance, Jazz performance, Composition, Musicology and Ethnomusicology.
The School of Music also runs a pre-tertiary program for students who study music at primary school and high schools in the Australian Capital Territory. Gifted pre-tertiary music students are able to take single study lessons in various instrumental disciplines, under the supervision of the School's full time teaching staff.
The School offers the academic degrees Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Arts (Music), and Bachelor of Philosophy, and also such combined degree programs as the Bachelor of Music/ Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Music/ Bachelor of Laws, and Bachelor of Music/ Bachelor of Science. Postgraduate programs include graduate diplomas, Master's degrees in Performance, Fortepiano Pedagogy, Composition, and Musicology. It also offers the award of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - available in Performance, Composition and Musicology.
The School of Music has a number of ensembles in residence, including the Canberra Wind Soloists, and "Virtuosi", the flagship student ensemble. It also hosts recipients of the HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellowship.
A School of Music Foundation assists the School to continue its projects with students and the community. The Foundation is presently chaired by former Vice Chancellor of the Australian National University, Professor Deane Terrell AO.
