Students at the University of Melbourne’s Conservatorium of Music will now have the unique opportunity to observe rehearsals and learn about the inner workings of the Australian World Orchestra as part of a five-year exclusive agreement between the two institutions.
The students will work with musicians from the AWO in addition to the personnel of the Conservatorium.
Alexander Briger, Chief Conductor and Artistic Director of the Australian World Orchestra, remarked, “It’s such a delight to bring amazing Australian musicians together,
to celebrate the joy of making music, and to connect with audiences at home and around the world.” The addition of the University of Melbourne as a partner brings with it the joy of imparting information,
wisdom, and, most importantly, music to the next generation of Australian musicians.
Allan Myers AC QC, a barrister, and philanthropist who was named the University’s 22nd Chancellor in 2017 provided the funding for it.
After serving as president for two straight terms and leading the university to over $1 billion in philanthropic contributions, he has decided to stand down at the end of the year.
Myers served as the Grattan Institute’s first chair and is now a governor at the Ian Potter Foundation. Before his current role, he served as President of the Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria and as Chair of the National Gallery of Australia Council.
The AWO’s conductors and leading musicians also play with the Berlin, London, Vienna, and Los Angeles Philharmonics,
the London and Chicago Symphony Orchestras, and Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, so the partnership will give Conservatorium students access to opportunities like instrumental masterclasses and sectional rehearsals with them.
“The AWO is a magnificent representation of the musical energy of the Australian nation and character,” said Professor Richard Kurth, the Director of Music at the Conservatorium.
“It brings together many of Australia’s finest musicians every year to celebrate and share their craft.” Students at the Conservatorium have fantastic role models in these teachers.
With this new cooperation with the AWO, we will be able to sustain a thriving international network that will inspire our students as they chart their professional courses of action.
Later this month, AWO violinist Heather Cottrell and cellist Peter Morrison will perform alongside Conservatorium bassoon lecturer Lyndon Watts in a concert showcasing early Romantic compositions to kick off the relationship in the university’s Hanson Dyer Hall.
Works for bassoon and string quartet by Carl Maria von Weber (Andante e Rondo Ungarese) and Anton Reicha (Grand Quintetto) are on the concert’s agenda.
Morrison plays with the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and Cottrell is a regular with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
Watts and Morrison are two of the AWO’s original members. Jackie Wong on violin and Emma Amery on viola, both students at the Conservatorium, will be joining them.
Wong won the Paul McDermott Scholarship in 2015, and Amery was awarded the Corinna D’Hage Mayer String Scholarship for 2020 and 2021. You can check TheActiveNews.Com for the most recent information.