“We can do no great things, only small things with great love.”
~Mother Theresa

Oh wait, she’s in opposition, so can promise anything she likes!

Dave

Solidarity. John Warner

I graduated from the School of Music 18 years ago and have been very happily employed in the industry ever since. My course was not “dumbed down,” and yet I have not only been gainfully employed, but every colleague of mine has been too, both here and overseas.

There is more to the Bachelor degree than just playing music all day. As Claire said, there is history, musicology, conducting, composition, business management, theory, choir, elements of law, time management and organisational skills, as well as the intangible things that we learn from being in close contact with the lecturers, fellow students and visiting guest artists. (You mentioned music history specifically – our essays were a minimum of 10,000 words so clearly not just a trifle. We all studied music history because without knowing where we’ve come from we can’t progress into the future. Those wishing to study it as their primary focus did a musicology degree, still offered at the uni.)

My typical day at uni consisted of history, theory and other lectures, chamber group rehearsal, (approx 2 hours), choir rehearsal, (approx 2 hours), orchestral rehearsal, (approx 2 hours) teaching music myself, (approx 3 hours) and I still managed to fit in 3-4 hours of individual practise in on my instrument as well as writing essays, doing theory homework and doing the day to day shopping, cleaning, etc.. I didn’t just sit around dreamily, playing my instrument, wearing flowing clothes and dreaming that one day I’d be discovered. It was hard work and a lot of it.

And as for saying that tutors are available in the community, would you expect there to be world class physicians or law lecturers just floating about in Canberra, waiting, hoping to have a student knock on their door and ask for tutoring? In the same way, our world class lecturers will not stay in Canberra but head overseas where they are respected and cherished, and Australia will lose more of its elite with its puerile mindset and ever-increasingly low standard of education. Those private teachers currently in our community do a fantastic job but are not of the standard that the lecturers at the School of Music are and cannot provide the same standard of tuition that has always been provided.

As Claire said, university is about education, not justifying one’s existence as a musician to you or anyone else who does not understand. I’m sure that if you were facing cuts to your degree or job for specious reasons, you would feel the same. It’s easy to pick on musicians because anyone can play an instrument but not everyone can become an elite musician, but let’s think of this way – elite sports people are paid an insanely and disproportionately high income for running around on a field or swimming up and down a pool. Their existence doesn’t have to be justified, but is, instead, glorified. Why is it that government funding is lavished on these people, but music and art is considered dispensable?

I think the approximately 20,000 signatures on the current Save the School of Music petition is testimony to the fact that our community is in whole-hearted support of this institution and that people should stop looking at music as the fall guy but as a vital, thriving and exciting part of our lives.

Thanks for your time.