The Music Trust works with energy, imagination and authority for music in Australia

Rajiv Jayaweera at Freedman Jazz 2013.
Photo by Keith Saunders

Reporting at the beginning of August 2020. Four finalists have been chosen for the Freedman Classical Fellowship 2020: violinist Grace Clifford, violinist Harry Ward, cellist James Morley and cellist Richard Narroway. This is one of the strongest fields ever for the Fellowship, now in its 20th year.
Normally the winner is chosen at a concert of finalists. That was scheduled to take place on August 1 in the Utzon Room at the Sydney Opera House. But social distancing rules closed the entire facility and all other concert venues. Various alternative scenarios have been adopted and given up. At this point we believe we have a strategy that will enable the winner to be chosen at the end of August. Watch this space, Loudmouth magazine and the Freedman Fellowship Facebook page.
The Freedman Jazz Fellowship is expected to be awarded in October. The sixteen nominees have sent in their applications and the judges are about to begin listening to the recordings and reading the project proposals. Since it is expected that it will not be possible to present a concert of finalists in October, the plan is to produce videos of each of the finalists, use the videos as part of the assessment process and then stream them in an online concert.

Thanks as always to funding from the Freedman Foundation, without which the Fellowships are not possible.

Freedman Music Fellowship information

The only knowledge base in the world that deals systematically with the music of an entire country. Facts in words and numbers about music in Australia – and discussions of key issues facing various areas of musical activity.

Music in Australia has been entirely redesigned. Navigation is very much clearer; you can easily see everything to be found on the Knowledge Base, organised into categories where everything available on each topic is laid out clearly. A program to add another 50 articles will begin in the second week of August, 2020.

Highlight, right click, go to www.musicinaustralia.org.au

There is a lot of thought and research behind school music education advocacy.

ARGUMENT FOR SPECIALIST MUSIC TEACHERS. Primary school music education in many states is in crisis. Teachers are not educated to teach music and in the majority of schools in most states, there is not a classroom music program. After decades of neglect, The Music Trust believes that the only – and best – solution is the introduction into every classroom of a specialist music teacher. Read the reasoning here.
There is a new reassessment of the advocacy arguments. Look under EDUCATION > ADVOCACY ARGUMENTS.

RESEARCH SUMMARY. There is abundant research in music education showing that its benefits extend well beyond learning music skills to improvements in IQ, academic outcomes,confidence, empathy, social skills and more. Read a quick summary of these research outcomes here.