THE New England Conservatorium of Music (NECOM) is one of four finalists in the 2013 Arts Music Awards category Excellence in Music Education by the APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) and the AMC (Australian Music Centre). The awards celebrates the outstanding achievements of composers, performers and educators in the dynamic fields of contemporary classical, jazz and experimental music.
NECOM was nominated for its biennial special project ’New England Sings!’ in 2012. New England Sings! is an ambitious choral development and performance project designed to encourage and inspire singing and Australian composition in schools across the New England region.
As the largest choral showcase in the region, it involved 700 K-Yr 12 school students and 40-plus school teachers from 21 schools in Armidale, Bellingen, Glen Innes, Inverell, Kingstown, Tamworth and Walcha; and 74 musicians from the Armidale Youth Orchestra, Armidale Symphony Orchestra, Armidale City Band and the Armidale Pipe Band.
The six-month project included many students, teachers and families from remote properties and schools across the region and gave them an increasingly rare opportunity to take part in music learning and live performance, culminating in two sold-out concerts at Lazenby Hall with standing ovations.
“This is a great honour and recognition for NECOM as it is the first regional conservatorium to be chosen as a finalist in this prestigious national awards,” NECOM Director Susanne James said.
“New England Sings! was made possible only because of funding from Arts NSW Regional Conservatorium Project Grants. Regional students do not have the same equity and ease of access as their peers from city areas and music education initiatives here are very costly.
“I thank Arts NSW most sincerely for supporting our regional schools through New England Sings!”
Awards in 11 national categories will be presented at a gala event held on Monday 26 August 2013 at the NIDA Parade Theatre in Sydney.
