Australian music industry backs the call for quality music education
At last week’s inaugural Australian Music Association (AMA) Industry Leadership Summit, which brought together industry leaders and experts from various sectors to discuss key issues and find solutions, our own Emily Albert (above left) and Eric Sidoti (centre, with AMA’s Alex Masso) took the stage to highlight the critical role the music industry plays in advancing quality music education in Australia. As Emily noted, “Unusually perhaps, progress in schools’ policy is being driven in large part by industry policy,” providing ‘Revive’, the national cultural policy, as an example.
The Summit reinforced that there is no disagreement that this issue is not just an educational one – it’s a core industry matter – as reflected in the day’s conversations and the collaborative industry support that has helped drive the momentum critical to this initiative over the past few years. This perspective was previously emphasised by NSW Arts and Education Minister, The Hon. John Graham MLC, who remarked that music education “was the 'missing pillar' of the Creative Communities report on the creative industries in NSW.”
Emily Albert at AMA Executive Officer, Alex Masso, unite on stage, highlighting the critical industry support for advancing music education at the AMA Industry Leadership Summit on 15 October.
The AMA has been a collaborator in Music Education: Right from the Start since its inception, with AMA Executive Officer Alex Masso an integral member of our Advisory Group. “Three years on from establishing this initiative and two years since the official launch, it is fair to say that we can see momentum building in several jurisdictions,” noted Emily. This includes the current NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into Arts and Music Education and Training.
Highlighting our mutual emphasis on the urgent priority of enhancing the quality and status of music education’s place within our schools, “The AMA’s submission to the NSW Inquiry makes clear the degree to which we share a common agenda,” added Emily.
It was a powerful gathering at the AMA Industry Leadership Summit hosted by Business NSW in Sydney, united in the mission to enhance music education for all.
Our common asks include enhancing teacher training, ensuring qualified specialists, increasing curriculum time for music, and providing adequate facilities and equipment to elevate the overall status of music in schools, along with proposing operational plans for achieving these goals.
The AMA's commitment to growing music-making in Australia reflects our shared mission to bridge industry and education for universal access to quality music education for all children, ensuring they receive its many academic, social, and wellbeing benefits. We share a commitment to the next generation of Australian musicians, creators, and students, and a determination to have the known solutions enacted.
