Elder Conservatorium

Elder Conservatorium Shaping visionary artists since 1898 for tomorrow's music and entertainment industry. Official Adelaide University account.

On Wednesday 19 August, the 2026 APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards were presented at The Timber Yard in Melbourne. 🥇 We were a...
28/08/2026

On Wednesday 19 August, the 2026 APRA AMCOS Art Music Awards were presented at The Timber Yard in Melbourne.

🥇 We were absolutely thrilled to see our Adjunct Lecturer in Composition, Dr Anne Cawrse, win the 'Work of the Year: Solo & Small Ensemble' for her composition 'Killing the Angel in the House', performed by Eliza Shephard (flute, who accepted the Award on Anne's behalf); and our Quartet-in-Residence, the Australian String Quartet (with Dr Lou Bennett AM), receive the 'Performance of the Year: Classical & Experimental' Award for their performance of 'nyilamum song cycles' by Dr Lou Bennett AM and Paul Stanhope.

🥇 Our warmest congratulations also go to Elder Conservatorium alumna and PhD graduate Dr Melanie Walters on being awarded the APRA AMCOS 2026 State and Territory Luminary Award – SA, for her work as Principal Flute of Adelaide Wind Orchestra, Artistic Director of Coruscalia Collective and for championing new music in South Australia!

🥇 It was also a great pleasure to see our friends at Chamber Music Adelaide and Port Augusta Performing Arts win the 'Award for Excellence in a Regional Area' for their festival 'Where We Meet: Chamber Music' (which featured ECMSPA alumni Nathan May and Dr Julian Ferraretto). Last but certainly not least, we would also like to congratulate our Emeritus Fellow Dr Carl Crossin OAM, who was a finalist for the 'Work of the Year: Choral' category for his composition 'Vivemus Cantare', performed by the Adelaide Chamber Singers and Christie Anderson (conductor). The evening also featured a performance of Maryam Rahmani's 'The Corner (I) and (II)' from her album 'Kamand', featuring ECMSPA alumni Dr Sebastian Collen (piano) and David Moran (cello and co-composer). Huge congratulations to all involved! 👏

We are excited to announce that Associate Professor Paul Watt has joined the faculty at the Elder Conservatorium! Paul w...
28/08/2026

We are excited to announce that Associate Professor Paul Watt has joined the faculty at the Elder Conservatorium! Paul will be taking up the role of Academic Lead (Research) from September.

Paul is an award-winning musicologist who researches music history, culture, and performance from the late eighteenth century to the present. He is a graduate of Australian Catholic University; Monash University and the University of Sydney. An inter-disciplinary scholar, Paul’s work traverses intellectual, religious, and literary history as well as musical biography, popular music studies, and music education. Paul comes to Adelaide with a diverse track record in building research capability in musicology, historical ethnomusicology, music performance, and creative practice. Welcome, Paul!

In the era after the legendary virtuosi of the nineteenth century, instrumentalists continually redefined the limits of ...
27/08/2026

In the era after the legendary virtuosi of the nineteenth century, instrumentalists continually redefined the limits of technical brilliance and expressive possibility. One remarkable example is Emánuel Moór – a composer, polymath, and inventor, whose boundless imagination led him to design a double-keyboard piano. His Violin Sonata No. 1 in G major, Op. 12, dedicated to Pablo de Sarasate, and the later Violin Sonata No. 4 in C major, Op. 51, reveal a richly lyrical and expressive voice, while the Polonaise brillante in D minor, Op. 10, dedicated to Viktor Daubrawszki, brings the program to a brilliant and virtuosic close.

'All the works on the program are Australian premieres as far as I know and have indeed not been publicly performed for over 100 years.'
– Simon Monger

📆 Friday 28 August 1.10pm
đź“Ť Elder Hall

Tickets available at 👇
https://au.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/159941

* A reminder that our lunchtime concerts in Elder Hall are FREE to attend for Adelaide University staff and students: simply show your Adelaide University ID card at the door!

On Saturday 5 September, the Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra joins forces with classical voice students and spec...
27/08/2026

On Saturday 5 September, the Elder Conservatorium Symphony Orchestra joins forces with classical voice students and special guest soloist Desiree Frahn for an evening of operatic favourites. From beloved arias to stirring choruses, this gala concert celebrates the drama, passion, and vocal brilliance of the operatic tradition under the baton of Dane Lam. Featuring music by Mozart, Handel, Monteverdi, Gounod, Verdi, Dvořák, Offenbach, Leoncavallo and Mascagni.

📆 Saturday 5 September 7.30pm
đź“Ť Elder Hall

More info and tickets 👇
https://au.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/159957

Next Thursday 3 September, Adelaide University's Ensemble Lumen (comprised exclusively of Elder Conservatorium faculty m...
26/08/2026

Next Thursday 3 September, Adelaide University's Ensemble Lumen (comprised exclusively of Elder Conservatorium faculty members) celebrates the joys of music making in small company with a performance of duos, trios and other small worlds in the intimacy of MOD. On the program is music by BĂ©la BartĂłk, Maria Grenfell, Rufus Reid, Johannes Matthias Sperger, Anne Cawrse, and Morton Gould.

Emma Gregan | Horn
Stephen King | Viola
Rob Nairn | Double Bass
Lloyd Van't Hoff | Clarinet

📆 Thursday 3 September 6.00–7.40pm
đź•› 6.00pm (doors open) / 6.30pm (concert starts)
đź“Ť MOD. (Bar Open)

More info and tickets 👇
https://events.humanitix.com/ensemble-lumen-in-small-company-mod-x-elder-conservatorium-sounding-the-future

Last week, we had the pleasure and privilege of welcoming Ikki Opitz (Principal Second Violin at the Deutsche Oper Berli...
25/08/2026

Last week, we had the pleasure and privilege of welcoming Ikki Opitz (Principal Second Violin at the Deutsche Oper Berlin) to the Elder Conservatorium for a special visit, made possible through our EMR Distinguished Visiting Artist Fund. On Friday 21 August, Ikki performed in our lunchtime concert alongside our staff (Elizabeth Layton, violin; and Vivian Choi Milton, piano) in Shostakovich's gorgeously evocative Five Pieces for Two Violins and Piano (arr. Levon Atovmyan), before he joined Liz, Vivian and three of our students (Adina Lopez, violin; Samvel Berberyan, viola; and Aj Singh, cello) for a thrilling and uplifting performance of Schumann's Piano Quintet in E-flat major, Op. 44. Congratulations to all involved!

Are interested to know more about Classical Voice? Are you a teacher who wants to explore repertoire that you’re not so ...
21/08/2026

Are interested to know more about Classical Voice? Are you a teacher who wants to explore repertoire that you’re not so familiar with, or want to understand more about how vocal technique works in this genre? Or are you just fascinated by how classical singers make the sounds they do?

The Open Music Academy at the Elder Conservatorium are presenting a Masterclass tomorrow afternoon with international singer and teacher Catherine Carby who is visiting Adelaide to perform the role of 'The Witch' in State Opera South Australia production of 'Hansel & Gretel'. Come and see Cath work with our young classical singers, exploring voice craft, stage craft and musical interpretation.

📆 Saturday 22 August 4.00–6.00pm
đź“Ť Hartley 106

Tickets are FREE, but registration is essential 👇

https://events.humanitix.com/open-music-academy-presents-classical-vocal-masterclass

The Friends of the State Opera of South Australia

Thanks to all of those who joined us this afternoon for our first lunchtime concert for Season Two – and what an opening...
14/08/2026

Thanks to all of those who joined us this afternoon for our first lunchtime concert for Season Two – and what an opening concert it was! Our Quartet-in-Residence, the Australian String Quartet, gave the world premiere of 'The Book of Wordless Poetry' by talented Elder Conservatorium Honours student Charlie Wells, before Professor Anna Goldsworthy joined the ASQ for a scintillating performance of the Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34 by Johannes Brahms. Congratulations Charlie, Anna and the ASQ for such an extraordinary afternoon of music! 👏

14/08/2026

Australian String Quartet
Anna Goldsworthy - piano

Charlie Wells - New Work for String Quartet
Johannes Brahms - Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34

Adelaide University’s Quartet-in-Residence, the Australian String Quartet (ASQ), joins forces with the Elder Conservatorium’s Dean, Professor Anna Goldsworthy, for a program that pairs fresh creative talent with one of the great cornerstones of the Romantic repertoire. Brahms's Piano Quintet in F minor, Op. 34, widely regarded as one of the towering works in the chamber music repertoire, combines dramatic intensity with lyrical beauty in a work of symphonic scope.

Last Friday 7 August, our collaboration with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) came to a spectacular conclusion...
13/08/2026

Last Friday 7 August, our collaboration with the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) came to a spectacular conclusion with a truly epic and unforgettable concert of Latin Jazz in Scott Theatre. The Elder Conservatorium Latin Ensemble (under the direction of Mark Simeon Ferguson) and the Elder Conservatorium Big Band (under the direction of Alex Taylor) came together with staff, students and DMA candidates from the UNLV, including Jose 'Pepe' Jimenez (drums / percussion), Megan Wallace (vocals), Jason Knuckles (tenor saxophone), Tristan Selzler (piano / trombone), Kalani 'KPM' Parra Molina (bass), Kyte Mettke (trumpet) and Mateo Hurtado de Mendoza (drums / percussion). Together they performed works by Mark Simeon Ferguson, Enrique JorrĂ­n, Miguel Matamoros, Jose 'Pepe' Jimenez, Stevie Wonder, Bobby Watson, Francisco Torres, Wayne Shorter, Tania Maria, and Ernesto Duarte to a hugely appreciative audience of over 350 people, including a group of forty-four people from Woodville High School.

Special congratulations to our student and alumni soloists Jay Wellens, Aidan Nixon-Burns, Isaac Werner, Bailey Schwarz, Lucinda Wearing, Lauren Morgan, Xavier Heard, Liam Jackson, Johnny Turner, Hugo Evans, Casey Mifsud, Anibal Araya-Reyes, and Sebastian Portillo Segura, who all gave fantastic performances throughout the evening. We also extend our sincerest thanks to Jazz faculty members Mark Simeon Ferguson, Alex Taylor and Tim Clarkson for their extraordinary efforts over the past fortnight, along with our Outreach Coordinator, Sara Lambert; Production Manager and Audio Engineer, Nicholsa Sverdloff; and Technical Officer Dylan Cooper, who lit and recorded the concert.

As we reflect on this deeply inspiring and rewarding fortnight, our thoughts are very much with Associate Professor Adam Schroeder (baritone saxophone, UNLV), who was sadly unable to perform with us in the concert due to a remarkably unlucky pre-concert stumble during sound check, which left him with several broken bones. Adam did an amazing job working with the students in workshops and masterclasses, teaching our people new ways to think about the music, and new ways to energise every phrase. His contribution played a significant role in the success of this concert, and we wish him all the very best for a speedy recovery and a safe flight home.

📸: Dylan Henderson

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