The Sydney Conservatorium of Music (SCM) — formerly the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music, and known by the moniker "The Con" — is the music school of the University of Sydney. It is one of the oldest and most prestigious music schools in Australia, founded in 1915 by Belgian conductor and violinist Henri Verbrugghen.

The heritage-listed main building of the Conservatorium — the Greenway Building — is located within the Royal Botanic Gardens on Macquarie Street on the eastern fringe of the Sydney central business district. It also has teaching at the main campus of the University in Camperdown/Darlington, at the Seymour Centre and eventually the Footbridge Theatre.

The Greenway Building is also home to the community-based Conservatorium Open Academy and the Conservatorium High School. In addition to its secondary, undergraduate, post-graduate and community education teaching and learning functions, the Conservatorium undertakes research in various fields of music. The Building was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 14 January 2011.

History

The land originally belonged to the Aboriginal people, called the "Eora", who lived around Sydney coast. They lived off the land by relying on its natural resources including the rich plants, birds, animals and marine life surrounding the Harbour within what is now the City of Sydney local government area. The traditional owners are the Cadigal and Wangal bands of the "Eora". There is no written record of the name of their language spoken and currently, there are debates as to whether these people spoke a separate language or a dialect of the Dharug language. In 1817, Macquarie resumed the sites of a bakehouse and mill on the proposed site. On 4 July 1817, he instructed a former convict, Francis Greenway, to prepare plans of offices and stables. Work commenced on the stables on 9 August 1817. Macquarie replied to Bathurst on 12 December that he was disappointed with the lack of approval, but claimed that no construction had commenced due to heavy rains. Macquarie laid the foundation stone for the stables on 16 December 1817. In a letter to the Australian of 28 April 1825, he identified Thornbury Castle as his model. A relative of Macquarie's wife, Archibald Campbell, had been a pioneer of the Gothic architectural style in the late 18th century when he erected Inveraray Castle and it may have had a greater influence on the design by Greenway. Yet on 7 February 1821, Major Druitt reported that Governor Macquarie had not liked the ornamentation of the towers and the rich Cornish around the battlements. Horses were prized possessions and very valuable. They needed to be protected from the weather and made secure from thieves. Early in 1819 Lt John Watts was sent from England with plans and estimates, but these do not appear to have serviced. The stables were complete in February 1821.

After Macquarie's return to Britain in 1821, the Stables had mixed uses. On 25 May 1825, Governor Thomas Brisbane suggested to Earl Bathurst that the 'Gothic Building on the pleasantest side of the Scite of the Domain, which was intended for a Government Stables, is utterly useless at present from the great disproportion of the Establishment of the Government, may be advantageously improved into a Government residence.' On 30 June 1825, Earl Bathurst permitted Governor Ralph Darling to erect a new Government House or to convert the Stables into one though the estimates of costs would have to be sent to Britain for approval. Late in 1825, Brisbane had loaned the stables to the Australian Agricultural Company to temporarily house its livestock after it arrived. He also suggested that rooms in the stables could accommodate some of the Government House servants. Additions were made to the north side in the late 1870s or early 1880s.

By about 1910, the building's role as a horse stables and staff accommodation was ending due to the increasing use of motor cars. In 1912 the government declared the building would become a museum whilst the Minister for Public Instruction suggested it as an Academy of Fine Arts but the proposal turned into a specialist Conservatorium of Music. The conservatorium auditorium was officially opened on 6 April 1915.Henri Verbrugghen was appointed as director on 20 May 1915 and teaching began on 6 March 1916. The site was formerly dedicated with an area of 3 roods 20 perches for a conservatorium of music on 22 December 1916 but was revoked on 2 November 1917 for an enlarged area of 3 roods 31 perches. The Conservatorium High School commenced in 1919.

After consideration of various proposals to increase accommodation, the Carr Labor government decided to rebuild on the site in 1995. The enlarged building designed by NSW Government Architect Chris Johnson and the private partnership of Daryl Jackson, Robin Dyke and Robert Tanner was completed in 2001. Construction proceeded in tandem with a major archaeological investigation of the site of the extensions. Deep excavation around the original core of the building allowed the needs of accommodation be met while preserving views to the site. Technological solutions such as separating the building shell from the surrounding sandstone and resting much of the extensions on rubber pads allowed the special acoustic needs of the Conservatorium to be met despite its proximity to the Cahill Expressway and the underground railway line. The work won an Australian Award for Urban Design Excellence in 2002.

Leadership

The past directors, principals and deans were:

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!Name

!Title

!Term start

!Term end

!Time in office

!Notes

|-

| Henri Verbrugghen ||rowspan=9 | Director || 1916 || 1921 || ||

|-

| W. Arundel Orchard || 1923 || 1934 || ||

|-

| Edgar Bainton || 1934 || 1948 || ||

|-

| Sir Eugene Goossens || 1948 || 1955 || ||

|-

| Sir Bernard Heinze || 1957 || 1966 || ||

|-

| Joseph Post || 1966 || 1971 || ||

|-

| Rex Hobcroft || 1972 || 1982 || ||

|-

| John Painter || 1982 || 1985 || ||

|-

| John Hopkins || 1986 || 1991 || ||

|-

| Ronald Smart || Principal || 1992 || 1994 || ||

|-

| Ros Pesman || Acting Principal || 1994 || 1995 || ||

|-

| Sharman Pretty || Principal and Dean || 1995 || 2003 || ||

|-

| Professor Kim Walker ||rowspan=2| Dean & Principal || 2004 || 2011 || ||

|-

| Karl Kramer || 2012 || 2015 || ||

|-

| Professor Anna Reid || Head of School and Dean || 2015 || incumbent || ||

|}

Students' Association

Both undergraduate and postgraduate students at the Conservatorium are represented politically and academically by the Conservatorium Students' Association. Founded in 1919 as the Conservatorium Students' Union, it oversees the majority of student culture for the school, and organises the annual Con Ball.

The Association manages the Common Room and two turrets (one for their office and the other for storage) at the back of the Greenway Building. Merchandise for the Conservatorium is also sold by the Association.

Elections for the Association occur annually in October, with the terms of the elected starting on 1 December. The current president is Alexander Poirier, the Vice-President is Cianna Walker, the Secretary is Theresa Xiao, and the Treasurer is Jacques Lombard.

Notable alumni

  • Essie Ackland, contralto
  • Richard Bonynge, conductor
  • Alexander Briger, conductor
  • Tony Buck, member of band The Necks
  • Jorja Chalmers, saxophone and keyboards
  • Romola Costantino, piano
  • Carl Crossin, conductor, director of the Elder Conservatorium
  • Iva Davies, frontman of band Icehouse
  • Tania Davis, member of band Bond
  • George Ellis, conductor, composer and orchestrator
  • Bryan Fairfax, conductor
  • Richard Farrell, piano
  • Margaret Packham Hargrave, poet, writer
  • Geoffrey Parsons, piano
  • Geoffrey Payne, trumpet
  • Deborah Riedel, voice
  • Kathryn Selby, piano
  • Larry Sitsky, composition and piano
  • Rai Thistlethwayte, lead singer of Thirsty Merc
  • Katia Tiutiunnik, composer
  • Richard Tognetti, violin
  • Esme Tombleson (1917–2010), Member of Parliament in New Zealand, and multiple sclerosis advocate
  • Timmy Trumpet, DJ and producer
  • Nathan Waks, cellist
  • Christopher Willcock, composer of liturgical music
  • Gerard Willems, piano
  • Kim Williams, composition, clarinet
  • Malcolm Williamson, composition and piano
  • Carl Vine, composition
  • Mark Walton, woodwind, performance
  • Gordon Watson, piano
  • Fred Werner (active 1909-1915)
  • Wanda Wiłkomirska, violin
  • Gerard Willems, piano
  • Daniel Yeadon, chamber music and historical performance

See also

  • Australian non-residential architectural styles
  • University of Sydney

References

Citations

Sources

; Attribution

  • Sydney Conservatorium of Music
  • Daryl Jackson Robin Dyke
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