Elder Conservatorium of Music, University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005

Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM): Level 6, Schulz Building, North Terrace, University of Adelaide, South Australia 5005.

+61 8 8313 4423

Undergraduate programs

Bachelor of Arts/Bachelor of Music. Five years. Bachelor of Music. Three years. Studies include performance (classical, jazz, popular, music theatre), composition, musicology, ethnomusicology, sonic arts/music technology, music education, pedagogy. One further year leads to the degree with honours. Bachelor of Music Theatre. Three years. Bachelor of Creative Arts. Three years. Music studies include music and media techniques.

Graduate programs

Master of Arts. In creative practice in music. Master of Music. In performance studies, performance and pedagogy, orchestral conducting. Master of Teaching (Middle and Secondary). Master of Philosophy. Doctor of Philosophy. Doctor of Music.

Other programs

Graduate Diploma in Music Performance. Graduate Diploma in Music (Performance and Pedagogy). Graduate Certificate in Music Teaching. CASM Foundation Year Program (Aboriginal Studies). One year, full-time. A range of studies, including performance, dance, composition and arrangement, songwriting, sound engineering, music industry production and management, education, community development.

The Elder Conservatorium can trace its history back to 1883. In 2002 it merged with the Flinders Street School of Music of the Adelaide Institute of TAFE to become the Elder School of Music. In 2005 its name was changed back to ‘Elder Conservatorium of Music’. A new building opened in 2005 has greatly enhanced the specialist studio facilities, with rehearsal, teaching and practice rooms, percussion studios, early keyboard studio and music technology studios (housing the Electronic Music Unit) and a New Music Lab. The School aims to produce a full-scale opera each year. The historic Elder Hall, opened at the University in 1900, is used for concerts. The Sia Furler Institute of Contemporary Music and Media nurtures innovation and creative thinking in areas of film, composition, digital, media, sound engineering and music technologies. The University's National Centre for Aboriginal Language and Music Studies (NCALMS) is a specialist Australian Indigenous language and music centre located within the Elder Conservatorium of Music. Its Centre for Aboriginal Studies in Music (CASM), founded in 1972, provides specialised tertiary-level university-based music programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander musicians, and is a key centre for Australian Indigenous music production. It is supported by Wirltu Yarlu, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student support program. The Centre has a state-of-the-art recording studio dedicated to indigenous recording as well as teaching and practice rooms, a dance room, a keyboard suite and computer suites. A range of endowed scholarships may be awarded to support suitable musicians. There are close links with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra, the State Opera of South Australia and other such organisations. The Elder Music Library holds the original manuscripts of Brewster Jones, Lloyd Vick, Horace Perkins, the John Bishop papers, some of the Andrew McCredie papers, and some early songs of Miriam Hyde. It houses the choral library of the former Adelaide Singers, with over 3,000 titles, including many by Australian composers from 1859 till 1973, in multiples of 12 to 15 copies. Single study courses are available to young people and to students studying in other faculties of the university. There is a Junior Access Program offering courses for beginner string, classical guitar and piano players aged between 6 and 9 years. Member of the Association Européenne des Conservatoires, Académies de Musique et Musikhochschulen.

June 2021