23 October 2015

School of Music student speaks out

14 October 2015 | chloelankshear

When I was a first year at the ANU School of Music in 2012 there were 30 classical voice students. Now there are one-tenth of that number.
I enrolled in a degree of music performance so that I could gain knowledge and expertise in the field of opera. There’s no way I can be given the sorts of opportunities to learn the art within the university with three classical voice musicians currently enrolled.
Students go to a university for the teachers and high level of instruction they can get from one-on-one lessons for their chosen instrument. Take away the teachers and the money to support them and there is no chance you will get a decent student intake for years to come.
It hit me the other day that I could literally do what they are offering in this degree more cheaply at home.
I started the course back in 2012 and then deferred after all the political stuff went down. It was just so good before the cuts. The school was phenomenal. The teachers were amazing.
I came back to see if it had calmed down and just to finish my undergraduate course and it’s just so sad. We don’t have enough students to even put on a production without the help of interstate artists.
It’s hard to take this degree seriously when it’s so poorly organised, too. If there is a masterclass, we are almost always the last to find out about it.
The money that is allocated to students for weekly lessons is almost never enough and isn’t accessible till five weeks after lessons have started in any case. Some of my fellow students haven’t even received prize money that they were awarded last year!
The school feels completely isolated from any other musical organisation in Canberra too.
ANU, I want to support you and get your School of Music back on its feet, but you’re not giving me or the other students the opportunity to do anything about it.
I just want the school to be what it’s meant to be. A school for performance. I just don’t know how I am meant to help make that happen.

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HenryBG11:13 am 16 Oct 15

Grimm said :

…the ANU is a private venture and must at least break even to continue to operate.
…
at the end of the day, the ANU is a business, and you can’t continue to operate a business that is always in the red.

It is absolutely terrifying that any members of our society can think like this.
Education as a business? It’s horrible, horrible thought, although my lecturer friend has told me about his inability to give honest marks to international students who are failing or caught plagiarising.

artuoui said :

The whole point of running a business school and MBA programs is so that they can subsidise acivities that enhance the life of the university and the community it serves.

…and re-assuring that most people get it.

HenryBG11:03 am 16 Oct 15

creative_canberran said :

There’s a difference between a commercial venture, and covering its costs. Under the previous arrangement, the School of Music was being cross subsidised by other students.

Now there’s a lot of factors to consider. What is the net private benefit, the net public benefit? Performing arts degrees typically don’t pay for themselves, they’re almost unique in that regard.

As for primary and high schools, they pay their way by creating productive members of society who can deliver a net public benefit (as earning taxpayers) and a net private benefit.

Well, one day we will smash all the pokies and our lives will once again benefit from the fantastic resource that is our pool of talented live musicians.

creative_canberran12:01 am 16 Oct 15

Charlotte Harper said :

I don’t think anyone has ever argued that the School of Music should be a commercial venture. Must educational institutions pay their way? Our primary and secondary schools don’t. Why should our music schools?

There’s a difference between a commercial venture, and covering its costs. Under the previous arrangement, the School of Music was being cross subsidised by other students.

Now there’s a lot of factors to consider. What is the net private benefit, the net public benefit? Performing arts degrees typically don’t pay for themselves, they’re almost unique in that regard.

As for primary and high schools, they pay their way by creating productive members of society who can deliver a net public benefit (as earning taxpayers) and a net private benefit.

Grimm said :

Because, contrary to popular belief, the ANU is a private venture and must at least break even to continue to operate.

No it isn’t. It’s a public university, a body corporate established by the Commonwealth. The functions for which it must operate are defined in s5 of the ANU Act, not one of those functions is to operate for profit. And the University certainly wasn’t originally established to create a direct profit.

BlowMeDown5:31 pm 15 Oct 15

Grimm said :

Steven Bailey said :

Grimm said :

Charlotte Harper said :

I don’t think anyone has ever argued that the School of Music should be a commercial venture. Must educational institutions pay their way? Our primary and secondary schools don’t. Why should our music schools?

Because, contrary to popular belief, the ANU is a private venture and must at least break even to continue to operate.

Do you think it fair that students from other faculties suffer funding the black hole that is the School of Music to their own detriment?

I didn’t ever mention that it should be a commercial venture, but at the end of the day, the ANU is a business, and you can’t continue to operate a business that is always in the red.

Primary and secondary schools are there to provide a minimum level of education. they are a requirement. A degree in music really isn’t on the same plane as basic education. This also only applies to public schools, as private schools are most definitely a commercial venture.

As I said, it is unfortunate. I doubt anybody wants to see the School of Music shut up shop. I’m a musician myself and have been for a long time, so appreciate the Schools importance. I also see that something has to be done so that the school either operates without being a huge burden on every other College in the ANU.

What a load of nonsense. We are talking about the future of classical music – one of the greatest achievements of the human experience. The ANU can afford to run the School of Music but they choose not to. Once upon a time the ACT Government donated about $1.4 million per year to the School of Music and then it chose not to. You understand that price of everything and the value if nothing.

So you have some inside knowledge of how much the School of Music has been siphoning from the rest of the ANU to stay afloat? Any idea at all Stephen?

Fact doesn’t become nonsense just because you don’t like the reality. Something has to be done to make the School financially viable, and not a drain on every other area of study. What has been done may very well not be the right way to go about it, but something had to change to keep the School open at all. I’m sure the ANU will be all ears if you have the solution t(o the problem…

So why did the ANU take over the SOM? Simply to add to it’s already massive investment portfolio?

dungfungus4:03 pm 15 Oct 15

Grimm said :

Steven Bailey said :

Grimm said :

Charlotte Harper said :

I don’t think anyone has ever argued that the School of Music should be a commercial venture. Must educational institutions pay their way? Our primary and secondary schools don’t. Why should our music schools?

Because, contrary to popular belief, the ANU is a private venture and must at least break even to continue to operate.

Do you think it fair that students from other faculties suffer funding the black hole that is the School of Music to their own detriment?

I didn’t ever mention that it should be a commercial venture, but at the end of the day, the ANU is a business, and you can’t continue to operate a business that is always in the red.

Primary and secondary schools are there to provide a minimum level of education. they are a requirement. A degree in music really isn’t on the same plane as basic education. This also only applies to public schools, as private schools are most definitely a commercial venture.

As I said, it is unfortunate. I doubt anybody wants to see the School of Music shut up shop. I’m a musician myself and have been for a long time, so appreciate the Schools importance. I also see that something has to be done so that the school either operates without being a huge burden on every other College in the ANU.

What a load of nonsense. We are talking about the future of classical music – one of the greatest achievements of the human experience. The ANU can afford to run the School of Music but they choose not to. Once upon a time the ACT Government donated about $1.4 million per year to the School of Music and then it chose not to. You understand that price of everything and the value if nothing.

So you have some inside knowledge of how much the School of Music has been siphoning from the rest of the ANU to stay afloat? Any idea at all Stephen?

Fact doesn’t become nonsense just because you don’t like the reality. Something has to be done to make the School financially viable, and not a drain on every other area of study. What has been done may very well not be the right way to go about it, but something had to change to keep the School open at all. I’m sure the ANU will be all ears if you have the solution to the problem…

Add more pop-up breweries?

Grimm9:52 am 15 Oct 15

Steven Bailey said :

Grimm said :

Charlotte Harper said :

I don’t think anyone has ever argued that the School of Music should be a commercial venture. Must educational institutions pay their way? Our primary and secondary schools don’t. Why should our music schools?

Because, contrary to popular belief, the ANU is a private venture and must at least break even to continue to operate.

Do you think it fair that students from other faculties suffer funding the black hole that is the School of Music to their own detriment?

I didn’t ever mention that it should be a commercial venture, but at the end of the day, the ANU is a business, and you can’t continue to operate a business that is always in the red.

Primary and secondary schools are there to provide a minimum level of education. they are a requirement. A degree in music really isn’t on the same plane as basic education. This also only applies to public schools, as private schools are most definitely a commercial venture.

As I said, it is unfortunate. I doubt anybody wants to see the School of Music shut up shop. I’m a musician myself and have been for a long time, so appreciate the Schools importance. I also see that something has to be done so that the school either operates without being a huge burden on every other College in the ANU.

What a load of nonsense. We are talking about the future of classical music – one of the greatest achievements of the human experience. The ANU can afford to run the School of Music but they choose not to. Once upon a time the ACT Government donated about $1.4 million per year to the School of Music and then it chose not to. You understand that price of everything and the value if nothing.

So you have some inside knowledge of how much the School of Music has been siphoning from the rest of the ANU to stay afloat? Any idea at all Stephen?

Fact doesn’t become nonsense just because you don’t like the reality. Something has to be done to make the School financially viable, and not a drain on every other area of study. What has been done may very well not be the right way to go about it, but something had to change to keep the School open at all. I’m sure the ANU will be all ears if you have the solution to the problem…

miz9:15 am 15 Oct 15

Steven said: ‘We are talking about the future of classical music – one of the greatest achievements of the human experience. The ANU can afford to run the School of Music but they choose not to.’

It is so ironic and sad that our own cultural musical roots are not valued here, yet are highly esteemed in Asia:

http://wilsonquarterly.com/quarterly/spring-2012-the-age-of-connection/why-western-classical-music-so-popular-in-china/

There is huge correlation/crossover between understanding/playing classical music and numerous other cognitive skills (languages, mathematics etc), but like any specialised area of knowledge, if you take it for granted it disappears and is lost.

If the ANU were truly focused on learning rather than economic rationalism, it would realise what a mistake they have made in gutting the School of Music. There are some things which have a quintessential value that cannot be quantified in economic terms. This is one.

rigseismic678:51 am 15 Oct 15

How many international full fee paying students does the School of Music have? I don’t see the School of Economics having any such cuts.
That said I take my hat off to you for speaking out, while I was at ANU doing my Arts PhD I would have been warry of speaking out as it might have tipped people against me- although they no doubt would agree with you.
The ANU need to fund this school even if they take some funds from the most popular schools to do this.

dungfungus8:31 am 15 Oct 15

Steven Bailey said :

Grimm said :

Charlotte Harper said :

I don’t think anyone has ever argued that the School of Music should be a commercial venture. Must educational institutions pay their way? Our primary and secondary schools don’t. Why should our music schools?

Because, contrary to popular belief, the ANU is a private venture and must at least break even to continue to operate.

Do you think it fair that students from other faculties suffer funding the black hole that is the School of Music to their own detriment?

I didn’t ever mention that it should be a commercial venture, but at the end of the day, the ANU is a business, and you can’t continue to operate a business that is always in the red.

Primary and secondary schools are there to provide a minimum level of education. they are a requirement. A degree in music really isn’t on the same plane as basic education. This also only applies to public schools, as private schools are most definitely a commercial venture.

As I said, it is unfortunate. I doubt anybody wants to see the School of Music shut up shop. I’m a musician myself and have been for a long time, so appreciate the Schools importance. I also see that something has to be done so that the school either operates without being a huge burden on every other College in the ANU.

What a load of nonsense. We are talking about the future of classical music – one of the greatest achievements of the human experience. The ANU can afford to run the School of Music but they choose not to. Once upon a time the ACT Government donated about $1.4 million per year to the School of Music and then it chose not to. You understand that price of everything and the value if nothing.

Good points.Which ACT Government was that?
The current Labor Government gives buckets of money to the Glassworks and the Arboretum as well as half a million dollars to the NGA everytime there is a blockbuster exhibition on.
I would like to see a campaign for reinstatement of a couple of million a year to the School of Music.

louise299:24 pm 14 Oct 15

No doubt Grimm (ANU management) is right in saying that reforms were needed. Nevertheless the path that the ANU management chose to take has destroyed the school completely. Outsourcing instrumental tuition at a tertiary music school was clearly never going to work. The only hope for the school is that ANU have the courage to admit mistakes have been made and start again with a blank sheet of paper. We can only hope that the new VC (abd his cohorts who comment on riot-act articles) will have a little more nouse than the current one.

hereitcomes5:40 pm 14 Oct 15

I am a graduate of the “good old days” music school. It was good. It was really tough, it was amazing. I am hugely thankful of the opportunity to have studied there and not a day goes past when I don’t thank my lucky stars that I was in that environment, even if it was tough. In the last 10 years I have seen the SOM take on more students (lowering the competition to get in), and eventually, lower their graduate’s standards.

As someone who is the product of this environment, and attempting to make a living as a professional classical musician in Canberra, I am SICK TO DEATH of reading comments about “how sad it is about the school of music” and how “something has got to be done”.

The school of music can’t possibly survive creating artists with no audience. It seems everyone is willing to kick up a stink about how the standard of the school of music is slipping, and that there are no students anymore – but when was the last time you (you the people complaining, not you OP!) went and heard an independent classical artist in Canberra? You can’t reverse-engineer the rebirth of the ANU SOM – the market was (is!!!) already flooded with too many high quality artists to supply the extremely limited numbers of jobs in Australia, so why would they continue to churn out more competitors?

If YOU want to make a change, you have to create a market for music performance. If we don’t have an audience, we can’t keep performing. If we can’t keep performing, there is no use in creating high calibre artists, because we’ll end up putting on professional calibre performances funded out of our own pockets, where the audience consists half of complimentary tickets and the other half our close personal friends and family.

If you want a thriving school of music, the school of music needs a thriving audience base to prepare their students for. If you want to see a change in this, GET OUT THERE AND SEE PERFORMANCES. Nobody else is going to do it for you. You can’t keep assuming that everyone else is going to turn up to concerts while you sit at home on your gameboy, and the school of music mysteriously thrives in the background. You absolutely have to physically get out there, support artists, create a market for classical music, and the quality and volume of music tuition will follow.

Since I’ve had a massive rant, here are some places you can go out and support your local artists. I challenge you to go and see one new group per month. Exchange your take-away money for it if you have to – this stuff will feed your soul instead.
http://www.cso.org.au
http://www.wesleycanberra.org.au/index.php/wesley-music-centre
http://www.hcourt.gov.au/about/concerts FREE!!!!!!
http://www.canberrawindsymphony.com.au
http://www.agac.com.au/
http://www.thestreet.org.au/
http://classicalguitarcanberra.org.au/

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