The Riverina Conservatorium of Music provides opportunities for kids from all backgrounds in the region. Photo: RCM.
It’s been a busy autumn for the team from the Riverina Conservatorium of Music (RCM) and CEO Hamish Tait said they are calling for community support to provide more opportunities for kids in the region.
To kick-start the new financial year, RCM has launched the 100 x 100 Music Education Challenge to try to raise $10,000 by the end of June.
“We’ve got large numbers of kids that drop out of lessons or simply never start learning how to play a musical instrument because it’s just too expensive,” Mr Tait said.
“The 100 by 100 is a challenge that works on the premise that a little bit from a lot can actually add up to a significant amount of support.
“If we can get 100 people to make $100 contributions then we’ve got $10,000 that will go straight into our music education department to support, scholarships, bursaries, subsidies for schools, subsidies for our ensembles and programs, and it will genuinely make a huge difference to making music education accessible.”
RCM CEO Hamish Tait said the new Simmons Street facility was already bursting at the seams. Photo: RCM.
Mr Tait said music education sat outside the current public school structure that concentrated on the three R’s (reading, writing, and arithmetic), leaving it to institutions like RCM to provide opportunities.
“At the moment, the government’s support for music education is static and it’s just not reflecting the needs so we are concerned about the long-term survival of music programs,” he said.
“The school system doesn’t provide a training pathway for kids to learn music so they’ve got to engage in private tuition. They have to have lessons with a specialist teacher, they have to engage in ensemble opportunities and performance opportunities, and that all costs money.”
RCM transitioned from the deteriorating CSU facility to the refurbished Simmons Street location early last year, and Mr Tait said they are already testing the limits of the new facility.
“We feel at home here and the building is working really well in terms of what it was designed to do. The acoustics, the layout, everything is great,” he said.
“The only real problem with the whole project is that we’ve run out of space because we’ve got exactly the same number of teaching studios and spaces that we had in the old building and we were already pretty packed up there!
“In the last year we’ve experienced the growth and expansion of our programs and we’re now at a point where we’re bursting at the seams, but it’s a good feeling. It’s a nice feeling.”
RCM aims to raise $10,000 for its education programs by the end of June. Photo: RCM.
Over the weekend, RCM hosted the Big Band Blast, with drummer John Morrison and singer Jacki Cooper giving kids from across the Riverina a taste of jazz ensembles. In addition to a busy schedule of classes and programs, RCM teachers have also been showcasing their talents through autumn at the popular lunchtime concerts.
“Over the course of term two every year we run 10 free lunchtime concerts, and we have had over 700 people attending just this term alone,” Mr Tait said.
“We’ve had incredible performances, mostly by RCM teaching staff and we’ve had absolutely incredible community support, which is really quite mind-blowing.”
“Even though the concerts are free, audience members who’ve been coming to those concerts have been generously making donations and they have also been making a significant difference to music education.”
RCM’s 2024 Music Education Challenge continues until the end of the month and all donations are tax deductible.
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