The Power of Persistence: Musical Advocates North of the Tweed

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Author(s)
Roennfeldt, Peter
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2011
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The establishment of higher education institutions in Australia has normally been an initiative of government. However, in case of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, the long and tortuous journey towards its opening in 1957 was characterised by the dogged persistence by numerous individuals, who today might be termed lobbyists. Without their collective efforts, the institution's arrival might have delayed even longer than the half-century which elapsed from the time when Queensland having a premier music school was first mooted. Themes of cultural deprivation that amounted to a 'state's rights' catchcry figure ...
View more >The establishment of higher education institutions in Australia has normally been an initiative of government. However, in case of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, the long and tortuous journey towards its opening in 1957 was characterised by the dogged persistence by numerous individuals, who today might be termed lobbyists. Without their collective efforts, the institution's arrival might have delayed even longer than the half-century which elapsed from the time when Queensland having a premier music school was first mooted. Themes of cultural deprivation that amounted to a 'state's rights' catchcry figure strongly, and also became a socio-political issue as families sent their musically talented children to conservatoria in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney or overseas. The succession of agitators for a Queensland conservatorium provides an interesting snapshot of the state's musical community during the early 20th century. This article discusses the 'power of persistence' by a number of musical advocates, some of them well-known community leaders, and others whose contributions have faded from public memory, but were no less significant.
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View more >The establishment of higher education institutions in Australia has normally been an initiative of government. However, in case of the Queensland Conservatorium of Music, the long and tortuous journey towards its opening in 1957 was characterised by the dogged persistence by numerous individuals, who today might be termed lobbyists. Without their collective efforts, the institution's arrival might have delayed even longer than the half-century which elapsed from the time when Queensland having a premier music school was first mooted. Themes of cultural deprivation that amounted to a 'state's rights' catchcry figure strongly, and also became a socio-political issue as families sent their musically talented children to conservatoria in Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney or overseas. The succession of agitators for a Queensland conservatorium provides an interesting snapshot of the state's musical community during the early 20th century. This article discusses the 'power of persistence' by a number of musical advocates, some of them well-known community leaders, and others whose contributions have faded from public memory, but were no less significant.
View less >
Journal Title
Queensland Review
Volume
18
Issue
1
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2011. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported (CC BY-ND 3.0) License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/3.0/) which permits unrestricted distribution and reproduction in any medium, providing that the work is properly cited. You may not alter, transform, or build upon this work.
Subject
Musicology and Ethnomusicology
Historical Studies
Other History and Archaeology
History and Philosophy of Specific Fields