5 November 2008
Garrett to meet with ANAM people
ANAM's activities may not continue beyond 2008
[Latest update 07.11. - media link added. See also: follow-up news item on resonate 19 November]
The Federal Government's decision to not continue funding of the Australian National Academy of Music beyond 2008, has left the Academy in a situation where all planning for 2009 has been suspended, and the staff, students and guest lecturers are effectively preparing for a future without ANAM. The South Melbourne-based Academy was initiated in the early 1990s by the then prime minister, Paul Keating, to offer high-level training to young musicians aspiring to national and international careers. Federal funding of around $2.5 million per year has formed the bulk of the Academy's budget.
According to the Melbourne newspaper The Age (31 October), the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, has now agreed to a number of meetings to discuss ways to continue the training of elite young classical musicians in Melbourne next year, but not necessarily under ANAM. Garrett is intending to talk separately with ANAM's current artistic director Brett Dean, and ANAM's students as well as representatives of Melbourne University.
According to ANAM, the reason for the decision was the Government's concerns that ANAM 'may not be the most effective or efficient model for the delivery of national programs supporting elite level classical music training'. ANAM has initiated a support campaign on the Academy's website.
Further links
Australian National Academy of Music (www.anam.com.au)
The Age (31 October): Minister to discuss elite music training
Brett Dean (opinion article in The Age, 30 October): Elite musicians need a training centre
The Age (24 October): Canberra axes music academy funds
The Australian (1 November): Academia's Sporting Chance
The Age (1 November - Editorial): To be elite is not the same as being elitist
The Australian (7 November): Academy denies ignoring order
Follow up
resonate (19 November): ANAM Update
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As a national service organisation, the Australian Music Centre is dedicated to increasing the profile and sustainability of Australian composers and other creative artists. The AMC facilitates the performance, awareness and appreciation of music by these artists through: composer and other creative artist representation and assistance; resonate – its online magazine; library and retail services; sheet music publishing; and the management, administration and publication of project-based initiatives. Its library collection holds over 30,000 items by more than 500 artists.
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