Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University (formerly the Queensland Conservatorium of Music) is a selective, audition based

music school A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department (of a larger in ...

located in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia, and is part of

Griffith University Griffith University is a public university, public research university in South East Queensland on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of Australia. The university was founded in 1971, but was not officially opened until 1975. Griffith ...

History

The Conservatorium was established by the

state government A state government is the government that controls a subdivision of a country in a federal form of government, which shares political power with the federal or national government. A state government may have some level of political autonom ...

and opened on 18 February 1957, with English composer William Lovelock as director. The school was originally located in South Brisbane Town Hall. In 1971 the Conservatorium became autonomous from the state government as a

College of Advanced Education The College of Advanced Education (CAE) was a class of Australian tertiary education institution that existed from 1967 until the early 1990s. They ranked below universities, but above Colleges of Technical and Further Education (TAFE) which offer ...

, and in 1975 relocated to a new complex at Gardens Point. The school opened a second campus in Mackay in 1989, which became part of

Central Queensland University Central Queensland University (branded as CQUniversity) is an Australian public university based in central Queensland. CQUniversity is the only Australian university with a campus presence in every mainland state. Its main campus is at Norman ...

in 1995. The

Dawkins Revolution The Dawkins Revolution was a series of Australian higher education reforms instituted by the then Labor Education Minister (1987–91) John Dawkins. The reforms merged higher education providers, granted university status to a variety of instituti ...

led to the Conservatorium becoming an institution of

in 1991. As part of this amalgamation, the school moved into its current facility in the South Bank Parklands in 1996, and was renamed Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University.

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

took over the Conservatorium's Garden Point facilities, including the QUT Gardens Theatre as it became known. The institution is affectionately known as "the Con" to students. In 1999, the Conservatorium launched its Bachelor of Popular Music program and its new Gold Coast campus, both of which were established under the direction of Associate Professor Garry Tamlyn. From 2000 this course has been taught from an information technology facility in the Gold Coast Campus of Griffith University. In 2003 the Conservatorium Research Centre (QCRC) was opened as part of the 30 innovative research centres in the University. The Research Centre aims to investigate the dynamics of contemporary musical environments. In 2019, the Bachelor of Popular Music moved to the South Bank campus and became a subject major within the Bachelor of Music course.

Facilities

Facilities include the Conservatorium Theatre—also used for smaller productions by Opera Queensland— which seats a maximum of 727 and has one of the highest fly towers in Australia, the Ian Hanger Recital Hall which seats 200 and the Basil Jones Orchestra Hall. There are also music production, post production, multimedia lab and recording facilities both in the South Bank and Gold Coast Campuses. The Queensland Conservatorium also includes the Young Conservatorium, an external, classical based music program for pre-schoolers to year 12 students. In the past 12 months the "Young Con" has engaged more than 1500 students in performances. In 2007 the Conservatorium celebrated its 50th anniversary with alumni reunions and visiting artists from around the world.

Staff

Former directors

Former director include: * William Lovelock (1957–1959) *Basil Jones (1960–1980) * Roy Wales (1981–1987) * Anthony Camden (1988–1993) *Simone De Haan (1996–2002) *Peter Roennfeldt (2002–2009) *Huib Schippers (2009–2012) *Don Lebler (2012–2013; acting) *Scott Harrison (2013–2020)

Notable staff

Notable staff include: * Nora Baird MBE * Julian Byzantine * John Curro * Janet Delpratt * Margreta Elkins * Ralph Hultgren * Carmel Kaine * Stephen Leek * Peter Musson * Max Olding * Jan Sedivka * Larry Sitsky * Donald Smith, father of alumnus Robin Donald * Paul Terracini 1982–88 * Vanessa Tomlinson * Carl Vine *

Lev Vlassenko Lev Nikolaevich Vlassenko (Russian: Лев Никола́евич Вла́сенко; 24 December 1928 – 24 August 1996), was a Soviet pianist and teacher. Biography Lev Vlassenko was born on 24 December 1928 in Tiflis, Georgian SSR, Soviet Uni ...

* Natasha Vlassenko * Nancy Weir * Christopher Wrench

Alumni

Notable students who attended the Queensland Conservatorium of Music include:Alumni – Queensland Conservatorium
Accessed: 14 June 2007. * Daniel Amalm * Jason Barry-Smith * Jeffrey Black *

Ray Chen Ray Chen (; born 6 March 1989) is a Taiwanese Australians, Taiwanese-Australian violinist. He was the winner of the Yehudi Menuhin International Competition for Young Violinists, 2008 International Yehudi Menuhin Violin Competition and the Quee ...

Gerry Connolly Gerald Edward Connolly (March 30, 1950 – May 21, 2025) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 11th congressional district from 2009 until his death in 2025. A Democrat, he was first elected in 2008 ...

* Sarah Crane *Tyson Illingworth (known as TyDi) * Brett Dean * Candy Devine * Robin Donald, son of Conservatorium teacher Donald Smith * Helen Donaldson * Lisa Gasteen * Clare Gormley and Miriam Gormley"Vice Chancellor's Report to Council"
, 2 December 2013, p. 22 * Dami Im * Graeme Jennings * Astrid Jorgensen *

Kanon (singer) is a Japanese singer-songwriter. She is signed to Sony Music Japan International. Her latest mini album, ''My Road ~ Songs for Guin Saga'' was released on August 26, 2009. Her fifth album planned to be released on March 31, 2011, as she state ...

* Piers Lane * Rosario La Spina * Adam Lopez * Tahu Matheson * Kate Miller-Heidke * Courtney Monsma * Katie Noonan * Barnaby Ralph * John Rodgers (musician) * Barry Singh * Megan Washington * Jonathon Welch * Christopher Wrench * The Kite String Tangle * TwoSet Violin (Brett Yang and Eddy Chen) * Toby Wren

Awards

APRA Classical Music Awards

The APRA Classical Music Awards are presented annually by

Australasian Performing Right Association APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwri ...

(APRA) and

Australian Music Centre The Australian Music Centre (AMC), founded as Australia Music Centre in 1974 and known as Sounds Australian in the 1990s, is a national organisation promoting and supporting art music in Australia. It operates mainly as a service organisation, a ...

(AMC). , - ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, , ''Encounters: Meetings in Australian Music'' program – curated by Vincent Plush – Queensland Conservatorium Research Centre,

, , Outstanding Contribution by an Organisation , ,

References

External links

* *
Queensland Conservatorium Events Homepage
{{authority control APRA Award winners Music schools in Australia Education in Brisbane Culture of Brisbane Tourist attractions in Brisbane Buildings and structures in Brisbane Griffith University 1957 establishments in Australia Universities and colleges established in 1957 South Brisbane, Queensland Colleges of Advanced Education Music in Queensland