"Music is not elitist, music is for everyone”
ABC Classic Drive presenter Russell Torrance recently cited our new research on ABC Radio National’s Breakfast show, noting the South Australian Government's funding announcement on 8 May to commit $7.5 million towards expanding music education in schools over the next three years is “absolutely” a step in the right direction.
Discussing the research on 27 May in a segment titled, ‘New money for music education,’ Torrance said, “There’s so many clear studies that the connection between, if you have access to music as a kid and how you do in other aspects of your education—they’re mutually beneficial, they absolutely are,” in reference to the Malinauskas Government’s commitment to provide $2.5 million annually for the next three years to ensure every young person in South Australia has access to quality music education from the early years.
The funding was announced alongside our latest research, Setting the Tempo, conducted in partnership with the South Australian Department for Education, and launched by The Hon. Blair Boyer MP, SA Minister for Education, Training and Skills, at Adelaide’s The Pines School on May 8.
Sharing the good news, “This latest research shows that 67 per cent of participants said music education led to approved attention span, persistence and resilience,” said Minister Boyer at our exclusive launch event. “Schools should be a place of inclusion and belonging with music playing a significant role in the wellbeing of students.”
The Hon. Blair Boyer MP, SA Minister for Education, Training and Skills, at Adelaide’s The Pines School on 8 May. (Image: Naomi Jellicoe)
Commenting on the research, Torrance highlighted that teachers and representatives from 115 South Australian government primary schools were surveyed to assess the status of music education delivery and its benefits. “Everybody said that early access to music education increases performance and resilience across the board,” he said of the findings. “So, the government has come to the party, for once, with $7.5 million dollars, so we’ll see how far that goes.”
Torrance, himself a tuba player who graduated with honours from the University of Nottingham, where he studied music, approves of the fact that the new funding is specifically allocated to “normal public schools” instead of performing arts schools, recalling his own experience of music learning during his formative years attending public school in the UK.
“They had kids completely from the wrong side of the tracks, believe me, but we had a music education,” he said. “There was a lot of funding in our local area for music education. We had teachers coming in to teach us instrumental lessons, we had free instruments if we needed them—and don’t get me wrong, these were dinged-up, dusty, old, smelly bits of equipment—but we had them. And it was all provided for us. And it meant that everybody had access to music, and it’s such a wonderful thing.”
Music program students from Adelaide’s The Pines School. (Image: Naomi Jellicoe)
Noting that music is a way for children to express themselves, Torrance adds that it also provides a sense of community: “If you play in a band, you’ve got people alongside you doing the same thing. Nobody questions funding for sport, do they? And it’s the same outcome.”
“The kids learning sport in school, they’re not all going to perform in their local AFL team or be world-class tennis players, but the benefits of it are for everyone to see, and we agree as a community that this is the thing to do,” said Torrance. “And it’s great that this is being applied to music. Because music is not elitist, music is for everyone.”
Torrance emphasized the importance of the SA Government’s commitment to quality music education as part of the state’s 10-year Music Education Strategy: “This is absolutely a step in the right direction. $7.5 million isn’t a lot of money for these things, but it’s something,” he added. “And I can’t wait to see what happens in three to five years in South Australia.”
Listen to Russell Torrance’s ABC RN Breakfast interview here.
ABC Classic radio presenter Russell Torrance (Image: ABC)
