Music and the Academy

[Frank]

Has anyone out there been following this?

http://www.theage.com.au/national/from-music-theory-to-conspiracy-t...

It got me thinking--what is the best relationship between professional music training institutions and music faculties? Has RAM benefited through its relationship with King's London? Is it a good thing that the London conservatories are all now trying to be degree-awarding bodies. The Australian situation is worth watching...

...and it is all happening in the context of MASSIVE investment in Conservatory-style educational institutions in South East Asia.

[Zubb]

I studied music at a music conservatoire and sometimes I just thought they weren't living in the real world... it was all about ticking boxes and picking up skills without ever thinking about how those skills were relevant. Like all these japanese and korean students would pay thousands and thousands of pounds to come over and learn to play in an orchestra, and all the music college would do is stick them in an orchestra, they wouldn't tell them anything like..... how to lead, how to follow orchestral protocol, how to go about earning a living as a freelance orchestral player, how to live healthy and productive lives as an orchestral player....

same story with all the other topics you learn about. it was always about skills, stuff you could get more quickly out of a book, never about how to use those skills.

[Louise]

So - a reversal of thinking is necessary - analyse what musicians need to survive and succeed post-conservatoire, then devise a relevant approach and set the course content accordingly. Sounds dry, but maybe it would develop some necessary survival skills in a 'safe' environment so there isn't such a steep learning curve on leaving... Having said that, conservatoires differ in their preparation for the real world....mine was great

[Zubb]

how much should a conservatoire prepare music students for the real world?

how much should a *university* prepare students for the real world?

You wouldn't expect an academic humanities degree to prepare you for a career in the way an NVQ in Plumbing technology would. but isn't a music college a hybrid vocational and academic course? why should it just be dry and acdemic?

[Frank]

Yes, I --for one--think a best-practice Conservatorium education probably IS a hybrid vocational and academic course, as probably all courses that deal with the practising arts have to be to some degree. Theory matters, because it enables an artist to comprehend larger patterns--whether they be musical, sociological, economic, or whatever. And ideas matter if we want artists (pace Marx) not just to ''describe' the world, but also 'change' it (i.e. be leaders in it). You can of course gain this sort of knowledge elsewhere- (perhaps, soon, even on musbook!) but an institution should be a place where this knowledge is most efficiently stored and conveyed

[Peter Tregear]

The growth in Conservatoria in SE Asian is worth watching--they are no doubt trying to build their institutions in light of the best models from around the world. Certainly the course at the Singapore Con explicitly deals with such areas as self-management, promotion, and legal issues for musicians--it recognises full well, it seems, that it is not just enough thee days to be a brilliant performer, musicians increasingly have to create their own audiences as well.

[Louise]

How much should conservatoires prepare students for the real world...fully! By 'dry' I meant that my earlier description of the suggested process was dry, but what I envisage is a fertile environment where instrumental skills, repertoire, experience, flexibility and communication skills can be developed from the perspective of what lies beyond the walls. Classes in self-management etc sound great, and also real scenarios such as.... being a Musician-in-Residence for a half-day per week, doing a project like 'find a venue and devise a programme for a Festival celebrating...' whatever; brainstorming ideas and suggestions for outreach. Thinking about how to create those audiences.

[Peter Tregear]

Here's my two pence worth...

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24706109-12332,0...

There is obviously a bit of an Australian context to all this, but I suspect some of the issues I raise have resonance (as it were) outside the Down Under context....

[Frank]

What lessons can we learn from this sort of commentary, however, about the proper balance between 'professional' training, and 'values' education? (Curiously, this article was inspired by a speech given by Rupert Murdoch, of all people...)?

http://smallbusiness.smh.com.au/managing/management/education-is-ke...

[Frank]

Interesting, Peter--so you aren't going for a University job in Australia, eh?

Peter Tregear said:

Here's my two pence worth...

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24706109-12332,0...

There is obviously a bit of an Australian context to all this, but I suspect some of the issues I raise have resonance (as it were) outside the Down Under context....

[Louise]

Frank said:

What lessons can we learn from this sort of commentary, however, about the proper balance between 'professional' training, and 'values' education? (Curiously, this article was inspired by a speech given by Rupert Murdoch, of all people...)?

http://smallbusiness.smh.com.au/managing/management/education-is-ke...

[Louise]

Sorry about the above - pushed the wrong button....!

Before considering the proper balance between professional skills and 'values education', we know that both are necessary, that they complement each other, that education has its own intrinsic value. But students now look for extra value in tertiary education - value as a tool to build a career, as a commodity to trade in the musical marketplace, as an asset to enhance a CV, as an insurance policy, should a career change and re-training become necessary. Re the question of whether or not it is a good thing that conservatoires are trying to be degree-awarding bodies, those that are give students a 'paper' qualification of added value.

[Matthew Lorenzon]

Here is my rather mathematical and non-dialectical synthesis of Peter Tregear's two pence with John Armstrong's two pence into four pence (the inability to follow this formula being one of the major downfalls of contemporary Music/Cultural Studies).

http://jawclick.blogspot.com/


Peter Tregear said:

Here's my two pence worth...

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24706109-12332,0...

There is obviously a bit of an Australian context to all this, but I suspect some of the issues I raise have resonance (as it were) outside the Down Under context....