Melba Opera Trust

Last updated

The Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music was a school of music located in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. During its early days it was closely associated with opera diva Dame Nellie Melba, after whom it was later named. In 1994 it became affiliated with Victoria University. Founded in 1901 as the Conservatorium of Music, Melbourne (informally "Marshall Hall Conservatorium" or "Albert Street Conservatorium"), the Melba Conservatorium ceased teaching at the end of 2008. However, the Melba Opera Trust continues to fund scholarships to help young opera singers develop their skills.

Contents

Early history

The "Melba" was established as a private conservatorium in 1901 after breaking away from the University of Melbourne, whose Melbourne Conservatorium of Music was founded in 1895. George Marshall-Hall, its founder, named it The Conservatorium of Music, Melbourne, housed in the Victorian Artists' Society building in Albert Street, East Melbourne. The Conservatorium continued as a private business with a sole proprietor through its second director, Fritz Hart and on to its third director, Harold Elvins.

When Elvins purchased the business he set about forming the Conservatorium into a nonprofit company. This was achieved in 1944 and the "Melba" has continued to run since that time as an incorporated company with a governing Council. Several further directors and a change of premises for ten years to 16 Hoddle Street, Abbotsford, saw the Conservatorium, by 1983, purchase accommodation at 45 York Street, Richmond, where it remained until its closure in 2008.

Change of name

Australia's famous diva, Dame Nellie Melba, was closely associated with the Conservatorium, teaching there from 1915 until her death in 1931. Her link with the Conservatorium continued after her death, through the provision of a generous bequest, hence its change of name, in 1956, to the Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music.

Association with Victoria University

Melba achieved recognition of its Diploma of Music through its affiliation in 1994 with Victoria University. Under this agreement, Melba delivered the University's Bachelor of Music courses. Melba also offered private studio tuition through its Single Studies program, and short courses.

In 2002, Melba commenced delivery of two new degree programs at the University's Sunbury campus, in a cross-sectoral Music Department, sharing facilities with Victoria University TAFE's School of Further Education, Arts and Employment Services. These BMus programs at Sunbury provide undergraduate courses in music technology and contemporary music performance.

Melba continued to produce classical and contemporary music performers and other music professionals well equipped to pursue a variety of careers at local community, national and international level. Students spent more than half of their course time in performance and/or studio related activities under the guidance of a small specialist staff.

Closure and legacy

After a little more than a century, the Melba Conservatorium ceased teaching at the end of 2008. However, it finds its continuing expression in the form of Melba Opera Trust.

On the closure of the Conservatorium, its assets were liquidated as a contribution to the capital base of the newly established Melba Opera Trust.

Ongoing scholarships

The Alfred Ruskin Memorial Award was established in 2004 and continues in perpetuity. [1]

In 2012, the trust established the Harold Blair Opera Scholarship in honour of Aboriginal opera singer Harold Blair, [2] to provide young Indigenous singers with artistic development, mentoring and performance opportunities. The inaugural scholarship was won by Tiriki Onus, [1] [3] who also won it in the following year. [4]

Other scholarships include the Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship, Melba Opera Trust Scholarships, and others. [1]

Patron

The Patron of the Conservatorium was Dame Nellie Melba's granddaughter, Pamela, Lady Vestey.

Notable alumni

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nellie Melba</span> Australian opera singer

Dame Nellie Melba was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early 20th century, and was the first Australian to achieve international recognition as a classical musician. She took the pseudonym "Melba" from Melbourne, her home town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harold Blair</span> Australian politician

Harold Blair was an Australian tenor and Aboriginal activist. He has been called the "last great Australian tenor of the concert hall era".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gillian Whitehead</span> New Zealand composer (born 1941)

Dame Gillian Karawe Whitehead is a New Zealand composer. She is of Māori Ngāi Te Rangi descent. Her Māori heritage has been an important influence on her composing.

Fritz Bennicke Hart was an English composer, conductor, teacher and unpublished novelist, who spent considerable periods in Australia and Hawaii.

Melba may refer to:

Lin Onus, born William McLintock Onus and also known as Lin Burralung McLintock Onus, was an Australian artist of Scottish-Aboriginal origins. He was the son of activist Bill Onus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elder Conservatorium of Music</span> Australian conservatorium of music

The Elder Conservatorium of Music, also known as "The Con", is Australia's senior academy of music and is located in the centre of Adelaide, the capital of South Australia. It is named in honour of its benefactor, Sir Thomas Elder. Dating in its earliest form from 1883, it has a history in professional training for musical performance, musical composition, research in all fields of music, and music education. The Elder Conservatorium of Music and its forerunners have been parts of the University of Adelaide since the early 1880s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arts in Australia</span> Overview of arts in Australia

The Arts in Australia refers to the visual arts, literature, performing arts and music in the area of, on the subject of, or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding Indigenous and colonial societies. Indigenous Australian art, music and story telling attaches to a 40–60,000-year heritage and continues to affect the broader arts and culture of Australia. During its early western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies, therefore, its literary, visual and theatrical traditions began with strong links to the broader traditions of English and Irish literature, British art and English and Celtic music. However, the works of Australian artists – including Indigenous as well as Anglo-Celtic and multicultural migrant Australians – has, since 1788, introduced the character of a new continent to the global arts scene – exploring such themes as Aboriginality, Australian landscape, migrant and national identity, distance from other Western nations and proximity to Asia, the complexities of urban living and the "beauty and the terror" of life in the Australian bush.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Marshall-Hall</span> Australian composer, conductor and poet

George William Louis Marshall-Hall was an English-born musician, composer, conductor, poet and controversialist who lived and worked in Australia from 1891 till his death in 1915. According to his birth certificate, his surname was 'Hall' and 'Marshall' was his fourth given name, which commemorated his physiologist grandfather, Marshall Hall (1790–1857). George's father, a barrister – who, however, never practised that profession – appears to have been the first to hyphenate the name and his sons followed suit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gertrude Johnson</span> Australian coloratura soprano and founder of the National Theatre in Melbourne

Gertrude Emily Johnson was an Australian coloratura soprano and founder of the National Theatre Movement in Melbourne.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anona Winn</span>

Anona Winn was an Australian-born actress, broadcaster and singer, who spent most of her career in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Peter's Church, Eastern Hill</span> Church in Australia

St Peter's Church, Eastern Hill is an Anglican church located on the corner of Albert and Gisborne Streets, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Part of the Diocese of Melbourne, the administration of the parish dates from 1847 when letters patent of Queen Victoria declaring the city status of Melbourne were read on the steps of St Peter's in 1848. The parish is known to belong to the Anglo-Catholic tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elsie Morison</span>

Elsie Jean Morison AM was an Australian operatic soprano.

William Garnet James was an Australian pianist and composer and a pioneer of music broadcasting in Australia.

William Townsend Onus Jnr was an Aboriginal Australian political activist, designer, and showman, also known for his boomerang-throwing skills. He was father of artist Lin Onus.

Roy Shepherd MBE was an Australian pianist who is most renowned as a piano teacher at the University of Melbourne Conservatorium.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian classical music</span> Genre of music of Australia

Australian classical music has developed from early years in the Australian colonies, until today. Today, each state has an orchestra and there are many major venues where classical music is performed.

The Melbourne Conservatorium of Music is the music school at the University of Melbourne and part of the Faculty of Fine Arts and Music. It is located near the Melbourne City Centre on the Southbank campus of the University of Melbourne.

Dame Nellie Melba Scholarship may refer to any of several prizes awarded by the great soprano or in her name.

Harold Stanley James Elvins was an Australian pianist, the third and last proprietor of the school of music founded in Melbourne by George Marshall-Hall as a rival to the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music established by the University of Melbourne.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "2012". Melba Opera Trust. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  2. Barnard, Loretta (6 August 2018). "Harold Blair: Aboriginal tenor, activist, educator, leader". Australia Explained. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  3. Graham, Jillian (27 August 2012). "Tiriki Onus awarded Harold Blair Opera Scholarship". Precinct. University of Melbourne . Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  4. "Tiriki Onus Has A Chat About New Film "Ablaze"". 3 Kool n Deadly. 24 May 2022. Retrieved 8 August 2022.

37°48′46″S144°59′35″E / 37.8129°S 144.9931°E / -37.8129; 144.9931