NiTRO + Creative Matters

Perspectives on creative arts in higher education

Music

Russian dolls and music schools
By Professor Kim Cunio — I am really proud of our music school. It has accomplished a great deal, rebuilding, decolonising and allowing an evolution in First Nations practice to occur.
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What does it feel like?
By Dr Chris Sainsbury — When a music school gets it right pertaining to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander engagement, a certain feeling grows within the school. “Feel” is a word that I intentionally borrow from music-making. Speaking from our in-house example, it feels positive and empowering for First Nations
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New Indigenous music for an old piano
By Dr Scott Davie — In 2020, the ANU School of Music devised an innovative research project aimed at engaging Indigenous composers with an old keyboard instrument, the Henrion piano.
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Remembering what we chose to forget: Indigeneity, modernism, music and the academy
By Professor Frank Millward — There are many things that need to be remembered in relation to Indigenous Australians. Here are three we may have chosen to forget or have faded enough from our collective memory that they may be considered as forgotten...
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In conversation with Will Kepa, Director of the Yil Lull Indigenous Recording Studio
Professor Frank Millward talks to Will Kepa, producer, engineer and director of the Yil Lull Indigenous Recording Studio at the ANU School of Music
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Limited Hangout: in the field: composers, performers and the environment
By Lindsay Vickery — The Limited Hangout: in the field project, was a series of site-specific long form compositions for performers, and optionally electronic sounds in the environment.
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Gentle transgressions: Embracing uncertainty in music and health research
By Dr Charulatha Mani — Regardless of whether an individual makes a conscious effort to understand why or how music operates the way it does in their life, music continues to permeate the life-course. A visit to the gym or a café; a long car ride; or the wedding of
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Beyond the resonance metaphor: Re-sounding images, experiences, and poetic reverberations

In the creative and performing arts, resonance is everywhere, both literally and metaphorically … Metaphorically, in moments of connection, performers feel a resonance with their audience – an actor may feel “heard” by their fans; a musician might be “amplified” by a crowd’s roaring applause.

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Metaphor as a doorway to understanding

A metaphor is what motivated me to undertake my PhD … I was a full-time high school teacher, teaching English and music, with a background and training in jazz music performance … To me, jazz and teaching were similar. Jazz was a metaphor for teaching.

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Congratulations to Professor Geoffrey Lancaster AO

Congratulations to ECU and WAPPA Professor Geoffrey Lancaster who was awarded an AO for his distinguished service to the arts, particularly music, through education, performance, research and philanthropy.

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