The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music is the

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger ins ...

at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

and part of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne City Centre on the Southbank campus of the University of Melbourne. Degree programs specialising in music performance, composition,

musicology Musicology (from Greek μουσική ''mousikē'' 'music' and -λογια ''-logia'', 'domain of study') is the scholarly analysis and research-based study of music. Musicology departments traditionally belong to the humanities, although some mu ...

ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...

, conducting, pedagogy and

music therapy Music therapy, an allied health profession, "is the clinical and evidence-based use of music interventions to accomplish individualized goals within a therapeutic relationship by a credentialed professional who has completed an approved music th ...

are taught at the Conservatorium, which also runs an Early Music Studio, and oversees the publishing house Lyrebird Press. It offers graduate programs including certificates and diplomas, and research and coursework awards at the masters and doctoral levels.

History

The teaching of music at the University of Melbourne has been undertaken under a number of administrative structures. The first award of a degree in music (a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

) was recorded in 1879, and the first Chair of Music, endowed by

Francis Ormond Francis Ormond (23 November 1827 – 5 May 1889) was a Scottish-born Australian pastoralist, member of the Parliament of Victoria and philanthropist in the areas of education and religion. Ormond is notable for founding the Working Men's Col ...

– known as the Ormond Professor of Music - was occupied from 1891, even though there was not yet a department or faculty of music at the university. Through the efforts of the first Ormond Professor, G.W.L. Marshall-Hall, this was rectified in 1894 with the founding of the "University Conservatorium", whose leased premises were located in the Queen's Coffee Palace, a six-storey building on the corner of Rathdowne and Victoria Streets, Carlton. The foundation stone for a permanent Conservatorium in Royal Parade, on the University campus, was laid by Dame

Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic dramatic coloratura soprano (three octaves). She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century, ...

on 26 November 1909, and the building, designed by Bates, Peebles & Smart, was opened in 1913. Assisted by a donation of £1,000 from a benefit concert arranged by Melba, which was matched by the Victorian State Government, the concert room now known as Melba Hall was added and opened by the Governor-General, Lord Denman, on 29 October 1913. The Conservatorium became the Faculty of Music within the University of Melbourne in 1926, and the first Dean was appointed. This was to be the administrative structure for the next 65 years.

Contemporary times

The Faculty of the VCA and Music was created in 2009 from the amalgamation of the University's Faculty of Music and Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts. On 1 January 2012 the two operating divisions became known as the Faculty of the Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium of Music (Faculty of VCA and MCM). On 1 January 2018, the Faculty's name was changed again to the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music."Faculty of Fine Arts and Music – a new name for the Faculty of VCA & MCM"
''Precinct'', 14 December 2017 The Victorian College of the Arts and Melbourne Conservatorium remain as schools within the Faculty. In March 2019 the majority of Conservatorium operations moved to the new Ian Potter Southbank Centre, a state of the art facility for music. This makes the Southbank Campus of the University of Melbourne the largest creative tertiary education provider situated inside an arts precinct in the country, and one of the few so located in the world.

Notable people

Ormond Professor of Music

* G.W.L. Marshall-Hall, 1891–1900 *Franklin Peterson, 1901–1914 * G.W.L. Marshall-Hall, 1915 *William Laver, 1915–1925 *Sir

Bernard Heinze Sir Bernard Thomas Heinze, AC (1 July 189410 June 1982) was an Australian conductor, academic, and Director of the New South Wales State Conservatorium of Music. He conducted all the orchestras run by the ABC, most particularly the Melbourne Sym ...

, 1926–1957 *George Loughlin, 1958–1979 *

Michael Brimer Michael Brimer (born 8 August 1933) is a pianist, organist, conductor, composer, musicologist, and academic. He was born in South Africa and studied with Eleanor Bonnar, a pupil of Leopold Godowsky. Brimer's school days were spent at the prestigio ...

, 1980–1989 *Warren Bebbington, 1991–2008 * Gary E. McPherson, 2009–present

Directors of the University Conservatorium

* G.W.L. Marshall-Hall, 1895–1900 *Franklin Peterson, 1901–1914 *William Laver, 1915–1925 *Sir

, 1926–1957 *J. Sutton Crow, 1943–1945 *George Loughlin, 1958–1974

Deans of the Faculty of Music

, 1926–1942 *J. Sutton Crow, 1943 (Acting) *Sir

, 1944–1952 *Charles Moorhouse, 1953 (Acting) *Sir

, 1954–1957 *Donald Cochrane, 1957 (Acting) *George Loughlin, 1958–1965 *Richard Samuel, 1966 *George Loughlin, 1967–1970 *Raymond Martin, 1971 *George Loughlin, 1972–1974 *Maxwell Cooke, 1975–1980 *

, 1981–1985 *Ronald Farren-Price, 1986–1990

Head of the School of Music within the Faculty of Music, Visual and Performing Arts

* John Griffiths, 1991 *Warren Bebbington, 1992–1994

Deans of the Faculty of Music (re-instituted)

*Warren Bebbington, 1994–2006 *Cathy Falk, 2007 (Acting) *Cathy Falk, 2008

Directors of the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music

* Gary E. McPherson. 2011–2019 (Head, School of Music within the Faculty of the VCA and MCM, 2009–2010) * Richard Kurth. 2019-

Graduates

Helen Adams Helen Adams (born 30 May 1978) is a Welsh television personality who rose to fame in the United Kingdom when she was chosen to be a contestant on the second series of the reality television show '' Big Brother'', in 2001. ''Big Brother'' Adams ...

, soprano *

Arthur Chanter Arthur Maybee Chanter was an Australian composer, conductor, music teacher, choir master and musician. An accomplished pianist and watercolorist, Chanter was among the earliest music graduates of the University of Melbourne, where he was instruct ...

(-1950), composer *

Bryony Marks Bryony Marks is an Australian composer of film scores and theatre music, for which she has won several awards and been nominated for many others. Among her television credits is ''Please Like Me'' and ''Barracuda'', and films include '' Berlin S ...

, composer

References

External links

Official website
{{Coord missing, Victoria (Australia) Music schools in Australia University of Melbourne Educational institutions established in 1894 1894 establishments in Australia