Fostering a new breed of orchestra musicians

ABC Sydney Symphony concert for high school students in Ultimo. Photo: Caitlin Benetatos

MEAA orchestra members are playing a role in introducing new generations to classical music. Kim Waldock reports.

THE Sydney Symphony Orchestra has been educating young audiences since it first established its ‘Youth Concerts’ in 1947.

Now, almost 70 years on, the SSO’s Learning and Engagement program has extended its reach far beyond the borders of NSW to become the largest education program of the state orchestras in Australia.

The Learning and Engagement program has four main pillars: educational concerts for all ages, programs for talented emerging artists, professional learning resources and support for teachers, and an outreach program which magnifies the reach of our run-outs, regional and international touring.

The philosophy behind the SSO educational concerts is to develop and grow the audiences of the present. We challenge the listener through unpacking the music, stripping bare the mysteries of the orchestra, then engaging them through age-appropriate activities.

Sydney Symphony Orchestra giving an education concert for Western Sydney schools concerts at the Parramatta Riverside Theatre. Photo: Ken Butti

All education concerts are aligned to current syllabi and supported by user-friendly resources that can be easily implemented by generalist and specialist teachers alike. All education activity is supported by resources devised by leading teachers and accredited teacher professional learning.

The Emerging Artists program offers musical development and training to an extensive range of young musicians, where they have the opportunity to learn their craft from the best in the business. There are opportunities for tertiary students from the Sydney Conservatorium of Music to attend masterclasses, closed rehearsals and talks from our guest soloists and conductors, as well as opportunities for young conductors and composers.

The jewel in the SSO’s Emerging Artists crown is the Fellowship program. A year-long -apprenticeship with a stipend of $30,000 and guaranteed number of calls, the program offers a unique level of symphony orchestra training and Fellowship alumni can be found in orchestras all over country as well as overseas.

The key to our engagement initiatives is to align them to the orchestra’s core activities, meaning we consider education wherever we go. SSO musicians and conductors run our student workshops conducted on regional tours, allowing them to meaningfully engage with the musical communities in each region we visit.

Of course the entire program is supported by expertise. SSO chief conductor David Robertson is a visionary chief conductor and artistic director, we ensure that leading teachers write and advise all our resource materials, SSO principal viola player Roger Benedict directs our Fellowship program, and all of these programs are supported by the extraordinary expertise of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra musicians.

Kim Waldock is Director of Learning and Engagement at the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. This article originally appeared in the June edition of the MEAA Symphony Orchestra Musician Association magazine, SenzaSord.