Elder Conservatorium
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The Elder Conservatorium of Music is part of the University of Adelaide.
In its current form it is a product of successive mergers of the Elder Conservatorium of Music with the School of Music of the South Australian College of Advanced Education, and with the Flinders Street School of Music. Formerly a Faculty of the University (the Faculty of Music) in its own right, it is now part of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. It is also part of the Helpmann Academy, a body created by the State Government to promote collaboration between various schools of performing and fine arts. It is the oldest of Australia’s specialist music institutions, situated in Adelaide, South Australia and is named in honour of Sir Thomas Elder, a benefactor who endowed the professorship of music (the Elder Professor of Music - Australia’s first professorship of music, established in 1884) and provided funds for the construction of Elder Hall, which contains the Conservatorium's concert hall and some teaching facilities.
In 1886, the Conservatorium established the Australian public music examinations system (AMEB), and in 1918 it was the first Australian Conservatorium to award a Doctorate of Music to a woman. The Australian String Quartet is ensemble-in-residence at the Conservatorium. Many distiguished musicians have been members of staff including Jiri Tancibudek (oboe), Beryl Kimber (violin), James Whitehead (cello), Lance Dossor (piano), Richard Meale (composition), Tristram Cary (electronic music). Among the various incumbents as Elder Professor, John Bishop remains the most influential and far-sighted.
Principal areas of study include Classical performance, Jazz performance, Composition, Musicology and Ethnomusicology, Music Education, and Music Technology. Many instrumental teachers are drawn from the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
The Elder Conservatorium is unique among Conservatoriums in Australia in offering pre-degree specialist programs in Music. Pre-degree programs include Certificates in Classical performance, Jazz performance, Music Technology, and Composition, and Diplomas in Sound Engineering, Classical performance and Jazz Performance.
The School offers the academic degrees Bachelor of Music, Bachelor of Music Studies, and Bachelor of Music Education. Postgraduate programs include graduate diplomas, Master's degrees in Performance, Music Technology, Composition, Musicology, Ethnomusicology and Instrumental Pedagogy, and the awards of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - available in Performance, Composition and Musicology/Ethnomusicology - and the higher Doctorate of Music (DMus).
The Elder Music Library is the largest music library in the Southern Hemisphere, containing just under 30 000 books, over 5400 journal volumes, over 120,000 music scores and around 22,000 sound recordings.
The Electronic Music Unit (EMU) contains a main recordingstudio and several small studios, and computer laboratories. It is also used as a public venue for concerts of contemporary and experimental music. It is the oldest such studio in Australia. Many distiguished composers have been associated with it, including Henk Badings and Tristram Cary.
As a Conservatorium, the School maintains a large number of ensembles including a Symphony Orchestra, Chamber Orchestra, Wind Ensemble, Chorale, and the jazz choir ‘Adelaide Connection’. There are also more choirs, jazz orchestras, big bands, numerous small jazz ensembles, and chamber music groups. The School usually presents one major opera production each year.
