BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Music education matters.
Whether you first picked up an instrument at school, you’re working full-time in an orchestra, or you’re just entering your industry training, it’s likely you share the sentiment.
The airing of music education program Don’t Stop the Music on ABC resonated so strongly with Australian audiences that they donated more than $60,000 and 4,000 instruments to the benefit of schoolchildren. The legacy of music education advocates and activists such as the late Richard Gill has inspired generations of musicians to teach, and share their knowledge of music with students young and old. Australia can no longer turn away from the knowledge that children who sustain music education throughout their school years will experience permanent benefits to their brain, advancing their language and problem-solving skills.
In this new seriesMusic education matters, we team up with a leading Australian educational institution to find out how music education can help shape lives.
Speaking with talent from the Australian National Academy of Music, we introduce you to practising industry figures – emerging and established, performing and teaching – so we can discover the true stories behind the power of music education.
Music education matters, says Anna Goldsworthy, piano
Pianist Anna Goldsworthy is the Kenneth Moore Memorial Music Scholar at Janet Clarke Hall, and lectures at the Elder Conservatorium. Anna has performed with festivals, orchestras, and chamber groups across the world. In 2015, she founded the Seraphim Trio, which has since premiered works by more than a dozen Australian composers. Anna also received a 2010 Australian Book Industry Award for her memoir Piano Lessons.
Anna, tell us about your upbringing with music education. What do you feel were some of the defining moments during your music education as a child?
The greatest defining moment for me was the moment when I met my teacher Eleonora Sivan, as a 9-year-old. Eleonora was a hugely significant person in my upbringing (and remains so in my life), and it was meeting her that set me on the path to being a pianist. It was so significant that I made those lessons the subject of my first book Piano Lessons, which is not only about lessons in piano, but in life.
How do you feel a music educator is responsible for a young person’s passion for music? In what ways can a teacher make or break a young student’s interest?
Perhaps we should see all teachers as custodians of passion: the question becomes ‘how successfully do we pass this on?’.
I can see it so clearly with my own children now: my elder son has become a history buff, on account of an inspiring Grade 4 teacher last year. As music teachers, we are responsible for a tradition of immense value. Imparting a love and appreciation of music is not only about creating the next generation of performers, but is also about developing audiences, and fostering a living musical culture in our community.
At what point did you realise you wanted to take what you’d learnt about music and form it into a career path?
I suspect I flirted with the romantic notion as a child, but I became more serious about it as a teenager. Music was a great source of nourishment to me over those alienating years.
Why did you decide to pursue higher music education, and how important is it for musicians to continue further study in order to achieve success in their careers beyond the ‘piece of paper’?
I’ve never been especially interested in the ‘piece of paper’ for its own sake; though I suppose as a lecturer now at the University of Adelaide, my doctorate has served me well!
I appreciated all those years of higher education, as they exposed me to some brilliant influences and ideas, and also afforded some critical time for me to sit at my instrument and think about music.
What have been some of your strongest needs as a musician?
I’ve received different things from different teachers, which perhaps reflects my evolving needs as a musician: a thorough technical grounding and philosophical/aesthetic outlook; confidence to take risks; exposure to classical performance practice; etc. Different teachers have taken divergent psychological approaches, ranging from goading to nurturing. This is deeply personal; as a teacher, part of the brief is figuring out what the individual student responds best to.
How can teachers best support adult students?
The pleasure of teaching adult students has to do with the fact that they can usually be reasoned with, and are prepared to accept certain key principles that often elude children: for example, the helpfulness of practice.
The challenge lies in the fact that the adult brain (and hand) can be less plastic. But despite this, I have seen some excellent results.
There’s been a lot of dialogue about the importance of music education in Australia. How do you think music education can benefit the community as a whole?
In almost every way imaginable. It has enormous and well-documented benefits to the individual, to begin with, which inevitably translates into benefits for the community.
Beyond that, music is a force for cohesion: a large part of its function is to bring people together. In a world that becomes increasingly digitised and automated, music’s connective human tissue is more important than ever.
What changes would you like to see in music education in Australia on an industry level?
As all the research suggests, it is important to provide a continuous, sequential, and developmental music education in schools for all children, and not just for the children of privilege. Australia lags well behind many other developed nations in this area, to the immense detriment of our children: not just as potential artists, but as humans. And I would like tertiary music educational institutions to be properly funded so that music students are equipped with the type of education required to become the best musicians or teachers or administrators or broadcasters, or anything else they can be.
What impact have you made, or would you like to make, on the industry?
I’ve tried to enact my professional life according to the principles above: developing new ways of reaching people; educating the young (and not-so-young); remaining dedicated to my craft whilst also seeking to communicate its value to as many people as possible.
I hope to do even more of this in the future.
What advice would you give to musicians to help them get the most out of their educational experiences?
Seek educational experiences everywhere! Don’t imagine that fronting up to a weekly lesson alone will make you a complete musician. I’d like to see more young people at concerts, imbibing any musical opportunity that comes their way. It’s a great journey, and we’re all on it together.
Anna Goldsworthy as part of the Seraphim Trio will embark on an ANAM Artists Tour this November. Check out the ANAM website to find out when they’ll visit your city.
We’re teaming up with ANAM throughout 2019 to share these interviews in our series Music education matters.
Stay tuned as we prepare to bring you more of the personal stories behind music education in Australia.
READ NEXT: Music education matters, says Harry Ward, violin
Images supplied. Anna and ANAM captured by Pia Johnson. Harry Ward by Judi Mowlem – Melbourne Camera Club.
