Editor’s note, 28 October 2018: Australia’s leading music education advocate Richard Gill AO passed away in his home on Sunday. On Saturday, more than 70 musicians came together on the street outside his Sydney home and celebrated his final days by performing music that he loved.
Gill had worked with almost every major orchestra and opera company in the nation, and received two honorary doctorates and an Order of Australia Medal for his service to the music community. He will be long remembered for his positive and generous contributions to music education and the lives of young people in Australia.
Gill was founding artistic director of the Australian Romantic and Classical Orchestra, which has opened the Richard Gill Memorial Fund for donations, with aims to continue his legacy.
In this story, we remember Gill’s own reflections on why we must value young musicians. His words were originally published in 2017 before he conducted ARCO in Sydney and Melbourne.
Gill will be sorely missed.
Richard Gill on why we must value young musicians
Young musicians are the new creators, thinkers, performers who push the older musicians to work even harder.
The young can challenge us
Young musicians question older practices, do not necessarily accept the received wisdom of the past, and create opportunities for older musicians to re-evaluate their positions. If, as a musician, you are fortunate enough to teach a younger generation, you will learn more about music than you ever imagined.
To career or not!
A young musician who is drawn to music makes a series of steps before making a final commitment to music as a career, or indeed, not. However, whether this means that no career path is followed, or steps are taken towards a career path, all young musicians will have music for the rest of their lives. You can’t take the music out of people’s heads. It’s there for life.
Good and bad music
There are really only two types of music: good and bad. That goes for all music from the beginning of time to now. There is no virtue in preferring one musical style over another musical style. Studying music intensely is a great way to learn to appreciate new styles. We can’t love things we don’t know. The greater one’s knowledge of a breadth of styles, the better one’s chances of becoming a well-rounded musician. At some stage, we end up making choices and decisions but these choices and decisions should be based on knowledge and appreciation.
Vale Richard Gill.
Images supplied.
