Keynote Address  -  Richard Gill

“Linking … Creating … Inspiring”

Orchestras Alive Conference 20 - 23 September, 2002

 

1.      What is the current state of music education nationally?

2.      What can we do to influence positive changes in music education?

3.      Why should music have its own space in the curriculum and why should the arts remain as separate entities and not as 'creative arts'.

4.      How do we lobby politicians at federal and state levels to inform them of the current state of music education?

5.      How can community and school orchestras work together to improve the general standard of music education?

6.      How can we all work together nationally to improve the training/teaching of orchestral musicians.

 

The business of music and music education has occupied my life for the past forty years and continues to do so. There are teachers all over the country who have a profound and intense knowledge of the subject and who are doing good and great work and whom I have been able to observe forging paths for music education and raising musical standards.

Nonetheless, and in spite of the musical wonders this band of enlightened teachers continues to work there are signs looming largely and ominously that we must not ignore.

 

We see now, more than ever before a greater number of children learning instruments, a huge rise in the number of instrumental ensembles, school bands, school orchestras, concert bands, jazz bands, rock and pop groups, single instrument ensembles such as flute choirs, clarinet choirs etc etc. All this must be considered as a gain.

 

At what price has this gain been achieved and what have we lost?

In short, breadth of activity has been promoted over depth of activity. 'Fun' has become the key-word. The pursuit of pleasure is favoured over and above depth of musical study and the accretion of genuine musical knowledge, many teachers failing to realise that genuine musical joy is found in intensive musical study. The current status of music education is reflected in the national trend towards integrated arts in the primary school system taught in the main by willing and earnest teachers who are strong on sincerity and short on certitude. The notion that one teacher in a primary classroom can teach all the arts equally well to all children is absurd in the extreme. A visitor from another planet would rightly conclude that we had all lost our collective minds.

 

We need to be reminded that all the arts function differently and therefore have a different function. Music functions in the abstract, requires specialised handling and teaching, early study where possible, a systematic approach to amassing factual information and its own form of integration, that is an aurally based approach which combines all of the elements in a united musical way.

 

For orchestras of any description to survive at any level whatsoever there needs to be a seriously thought out national approach to music education including a strategy

 

·        which recognises minimum musical standards in music education;

 

·        which also recognises that every child has the right to a properly trained and thoroughly prepared music teacher;

 

·        which recognises the indispensable study of a musical tradition and the existence of a large canon of music which constitutes western art music;

 

·        which provides a clear and concise structure for its study;

 

·        which achieves balance in the types of musics studied and allows the specially gifted to be identified early (see National Institute Of Sport), and gives every child at Primary School seven years of an intense and rigorous musical study under the tutelage of expert teachers.

 

In this country at the moment we have too many music associations, well-intentioned though they might be, working against a common goal and working independently to try and justify their existence in an effort to boost numbers to attend their workshops and their clinics and the like. In this sense they tend to look inwardly for solutions rather than outwardly at the greater and more serious musical condition. There is a need for a united front from all musicians representing the cause of music education rather than an individual cause. Were this unity to happen the individual causes would be well-served and their needs nationally and universally recognised and met thereby serving the individual as well as the common good. In this sense ASME could have had a greater role but in-fighting and petty jealousies won the day from its inception (I was at the first meeting of ASME in 1967 and remember it well) and music education was the loser in every way.

 

Music education is not on the political radar of federal or state governments and active musicians are frequently too busy to be engaged in serious lobbying. Music teachers and musicians generally are only political within their own organisations and are rarely ever seen as lobbying the real power in the country, namely the federal and state politicians. Many politicians and bureaucrats believe that music education is what takes place in the form of arena entertainments provided annually in most states. This populist and popularist form of entertainment is eroding and devouring the serious music traditions leading teachers and children to believe that performing music (often badly), from the current musical theatre repertoire or singing pop songs in the manner of under-developed cabaret artists staged with spectacular lighting effects, dancers and amplified sound, constitutes a manifestation of serious music education.

 

Music education is frequently in the hands of musically untrained administrators who, through no fault of their own, have responsibility for whole 'integrated arts' areas and who in fact have no business dealing with any sort of musical activity whatsoever.

 

The integrated arts approach is the most abhorrent betrayal of all the art forms and a betrayal of the children who are supposed to study such an approach, a betrayal of those who devise and administer the approach and a complete dumbing-down of serious artistic information at all levels. That we have sunk to this type of mediocrity in our school system will remain one of our great shames.

 

The situation is serious. Warm fuzzy feelings, fun-filled transient musical moments and the over-whelming worship of recency, relevancy and outcomes-based teaching, appealing to imperceptive adults, teachers, parents and administrators alike, exist in abundance all over this country negating the truly good and wonderful work being done by people who genuinely know the subject and how to teach it.

 

TOAN and its membership could present a deep and perceptive study of these issues to state departments of education and at least inform governments of the seriousness of the situation. We need to take a lesson from the sports people who seem to be able to be organised, efficient, motivated and capable. There is huge job of work to be done and the time to start is now.

 

Let us ask ourselves 28 questions pertinent to the way in which we function as members of our orchestras, notwithstanding the nature of our membership, that is player, organiser, secretarial assistant etc:

 

1.      Does your orchestra ever have an open day or open rehearsal?

 

2.      Does your orchestra ever invite a guest conductor who has a specialty?

 

3.      Does your orchestra ever invite a soloist whom you believe to be out of its range entirely? In other words, do you ever really test the water?

 

4.      Does your orchestra ever invite a soloist to play a special recital to promote instruments such as the Double Bass, the Viola, the Bassoon or the Tuba?

 

5.      Does your orchestra call the State Symphony Orchestra and ask for a tutorial from a player?

 

6.      Does your orchestra organise an event or a trip to hear another orchestra play?

 

7.      Does your orchestra ever invite another orchestra for a week-end of music making with resident or guest conductors?

 

8.      Does your orchestra ever invite local school-children to play for special events?

 

9.      Does your orchestra play outside the community for community events such as fetes, football matches and the like?

 

10.    Does your orchestra endow scholarships to have someone taught an instrument you need such as viola, double bass etc etc?

 

11.    Does your orchestra visit those parts of the community which can't visit you such as retirement villages, hospitals and the like?

 

12.    Does your orchestra ever organise an event in conjunction with another group or association in your town such as the local ballet school, drama club etc etc?

 

13.    Does your orchestra ever beak up into 'gig-groups' to do gigs under the banner of the orchestra?

 

14.    Does your orchestral management have contact with the local Mayor, the local places of worship, the business centres, the Malls and the like?

 

15.    Does your orchestra have a prize in its name for the local Primary School/High School/ Eisteddfod/Speech day awards?

 

16.    Does your orchestra work with the local choir and its choristers whether you like them or not?

 

17.    Does your orchestra ever invite the local town/community music teachers (school and studio) to regular round-table exchanges of ideas for programming, special events and the like?

 

18.    Does your orchestra have someone who is a diplomat who can work on uniting the town's forces and who is prepared to deal with difficult people?

 

19.    Does your orchestra ever inquire/ask/request anyone of any age to learn an instrument because it's needed, for example a retired person who may have time to practice and who is keen to learn an instrument?

 

20.    Does your orchestra have contact with the local sports organisations, and offer to play at prize-givings, sports days, carnivals, special events, for example as gig-groups or mixed ensembles?

 

21.    Does your orchestra ever contact AYO and find out what services it can offer you?

 

22.    Does your orchestra ever offer the opportunity to a young Symphony Australia conductor to use your group for much needed conducting practice?

 

23.    Does your orchestra offer the chance to a young composition student to compose a short work specifically for your orchestra's needs, such as a Higher School Certificate student or a University student?

 

24.    Does your orchestra ever charge a large sum of money to have someone conduct as a special prize/bonus/donation?

 

25.    Does your orchestra ever organize a community 'sing your own' musical?

 

26.    Does your orchestra ever invite a soloist from Opera Australia's Young Artist Program to perform?

 

27.    Does your orchestra know the school syllabus well-enough to devise special programs of interest to children of all ages?

 

28.    Does your orchestra ever run a 'music explained' concert in the manner of Adult Themes as run by the Sydney Sinfonia?