Conservatorium High School

The School accepts students from Year 7 to Year 12, providing opportunities for musically gifted young people to combine musical and academic studies.[1] The school ranks highly in the state for academic achievement; in 2014, the school was placed 9th, in 2016, 10th and in 2019 2nd in the state for Higher School Certificate results.[2][3]

The school counts among its alumni some of Australia's most acclaimed performers, teachers, composers, and musicians who have made their mark in all facets of the music profession.

The school was established at the behest of Henri Verbrugghen, foundation director of the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, and enrolled its first students in 1918. The inaugural principal, Peter Steele, was seconded from Sydney Boys High School and taught in both the secondary and tertiary programs of the Conservatorium.[4]

Conservatorium of Music during Macquarie Night Lights, 2006

Adjoining the Botanic Gardens and overlooking Farm Cove, the Conservatorium of Music is one of Sydney's best-known heritage sites. The heart of the Conservatorium is the turreted sandstone structure that was designed by the convict architect Francis Greenway to serve as vice-regal stables for Government House, which is located across the gardens to the north. Extensive redevelopment in the late 1990s transformed the Con into a teaching, research and music performance complex with expanded accommodation for around 160 Conservatorium High School students.[5]

The School is staffed and administered by the New South Wales Department of Education. Instrumental tuition, chamber music programs, and individual composition lessons are provided by Sydney University staff and other highly qualified and highly regarded professional musicians, composers, conductors and musicologists. Students regularly participate in Conservatorium concerts and masterclasses.

Admission is through a competitive process of auditions and workshops that assess each applicant's potential and current level of achievement. Auditions are held each year around August. Prospective students must also sit the NSW Selective High School Placement Test or other psychometric assessment.[7]

The Conservatorium High School Parents and Citizens Association encourages parental representation on curriculum, finance, welfare and school management committees, and in a variety of fund-raising activities.[8]

Subjects offered for students in Years 7–10 include: music, science, English, history, mathematics, geography, Mandarin, visual arts, design and technology, drama, personal development and health, performance workshop program, physical education, sports.

Subjects offered to students in Years 11–12 may include: music 2, music extension, music performance board endorsed course (performance workshop program, ensembles, chamber music and choir, house concerts), ancient history, modern history, history extension, biology, chemistry, physics, English advanced, English extension 1, English extension 2, French, German, mathematics general, mathematics, mathematics extension 1, mathematics extension 2, visual arts, and Chinese.

Conservatorium High School students take part in a full program of individual, small ensemble, orchestral and choral music training and performance, as well as tuition in composition, music history, and music theory.

Students receive tuition on their chosen instruments mostly from teachers from the Sydney Conservatorium, a faculty of the University of Sydney. The standard semester requirement for all students is 16 one-to-one weekly lessons of one hour's duration on their major instrument, and 16 one-to-one weekly lessons of half-an-hour's duration on their minor instrument.[9]

Students in Years 8–12 take part in either Junior or Senior Small Ensembles each week. Students in years 11 and 12 participate performance workshop classes for one hour every week. Included are classes on all aspects of performance including such related topics as meditation, remedial posture work, and performance anxiety.

Every year the school holds a regular program of public concerts, often attracting world-renowned musicians to perform with the students. The school presents three major choral/orchestral concerts each year. Term 2 showcases the annual concert and term 3 is the valedictory concert and farewell to Year 12. The winner of the School's annual concerto competition also performs with the orchestra on this occasion. At annual house concerts, held at the very end of Term 4, the houses compete for a trophy in one of the school's most esteemed musical events. Students are responsible for sourcing the music and obtaining permission to perform it. The criteria against which the performances are judged by professional guest adjudicators.[10]

The School appointed Carolyn Watson as conductor-in-residence in 2011. Recent repertoire performed under Watson includes Mussorgsky/Ravel Pictures at an Exhibition in a performance involving every student at the school, the first all-Australian program featuring works by composers Vine, Sculthorpe, Stanhope, Hindson and John Peterson; and Mozart's Requiem performed to capacity audiences. In addition to orchestral concerts, there are chamber music concerts, soloist concerts, large and small ensemble concerts and assembly performances.[11]

The Conservatorium High School is a public school and academic tuition fees are set by the government. The cost of compulsory individual music program tuition with teachers of the Sydney Conservatorium of Music is subsidised for students enrolling at the Conservatorium High School. Scholarships are available for special programs and purposes.[12]

The school's alumni association, the Conservatorium High Association of Old Students (CHAOS) aims to keep alumni connected through events and a regular newsletter, "This week at Con High". The Association also puts on concerts that raise funds for student grants and scholarships.[13]

Notable alumni of the Conservatorium High School include:

• Iva Davies – songwriter, composer, lead singer of Icehouse
• John Foreman – musician and television personality
• Martin Lass – classical crossover violinist and recording artist
• Jade MacRae – soul singer and recording artist
• Kim Moyes – producer, DJ & half of The Presets
• Jane Rutter – flautist and recording artist
• Toby Thatcher – oboist and assistant conductor of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO)
• Richard Tognetti – violinist, composer, and conductor, Artistic Director and Leader of the Australian Chamber Orchestra (ACO)
• Barry Tuckwell – Grammy-nominated horn player and conductor
• Roger Woodward – classical concert pianist

• List of government schools in New South Wales
• List of creative and performing arts high schools in New South Wales
• List of selective high schools in New South Wales

• Conservatorium High School website
• Conservatorium High School Parents and Citizens Association
• Patty, Anna (27 December 2007). "Sacking escalates tensions at music school". The Sydney Morning Herald.
• Patty, Anna (3 April 2007). "The Con calls in a peace broker". The Sydney Morning Herald.
• Patty, Anna (19 November 2007). "High school accused of elitism". The Sydney Morning Herald.
• Yatman, Brian (2 July 2015). "Timeline: Sydney Conservatorium of Music controversies". The Sydney Morning Herald.